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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28366785">An Emperor's Human.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elementalwriter/pseuds/Elementalwriter'>Elementalwriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Betrayal, CreepyLuz, Drama, F/F, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s01e18 Agony of a Witch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:00:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>49,756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28366785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elementalwriter/pseuds/Elementalwriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.'<br/>that is a rule that Edalyn Clawthorne had lived by for the last decades.<br/>but there was one thing unclear.</p><p>what do you do when you closest friend, one of the only people you trust, becomes your worst enemy?</p><p>alternate ending to Agony Of A Witch.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight &amp; Boscha, Amity Blight &amp; Luz Noceda, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Eda Clawthorne &amp; Lilith Clawthorne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Witch Broken, A Soldier Found.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hope you enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone.<br/>Welcome to an idea that popped into my head a few weeks ago, and hasn't let go since.<br/>this is just the first version. I'll probably update it later if you guys really want me to.<br/>I really hope you like it.</p><p>The artwork is made by DoggoFroggouwu.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1:</p><p> </p><p>The dungeons were some of the darkest places in the palace.</p><p>Criminals who have been deemed too dangerous for society and too serious for the Conformatorium were put here. they were under constant patrol by the guards. Who belonged to the most known coven of the Isles.</p><p>The criminals of the criminals were stored here, meant to never see daylight again. Some of them were set up to be petrified. Other would spend their entire lives there, rotting away.</p><p>Guards were walking around, keeping an close eye on everybody enjailed. Some cells were empty, others housed inmates.</p><p>And one of those inmates was an older looking women who sat in one of the darkest spots in her cell.</p><p>She had gray hair, ivory skin and golden eyes. she wore a maroon colored dress with matching high-heeled boots. But she also had some features which weren’t normal, like the golden fang sticking out of her mouth, or her claw like nails. But the most abnormal thing about her right now, were the feathers sprouting from her arms and legs. Some smaller once had also formed on top of her head.</p><p>To many, she was known as The Owl Lady, the wild witch of Bonesborough. But to the once who were close to her, she was also known as Eda, full name Edalyn, Clawthorne.</p><p>She sat huddled up on her bed, which was just a wooden plank held up by a few chains. She was lost in her thoughts. Mainly on how she ended up there.</p><p><em>‘how did this happen?’ </em>she asked. <em>‘how did it go so wrong? I mean, things weren’t ideal to begin with, but it was doable. I was happy, kind of. I had a decent life. Then Luz stumbled through the portal  And it has only gotten better since. So why? Why did it have to turn out this way?’</em></p><p>She remembered the faithful day like it was yesterday, probably because it was only a few days ago. The day started of relatively well. Then the curse took over, but King and Luz managed to turn her back before anything bad could happen. After that, the kid went off to this school trip with her friends, and she had come up with the idea to make her a cape from witches wool.</p><p>Everything was fine and dandy, King was even making a cake.</p><p>Sadly she never got to see the end product. As Luz’s plant and Illusion friends, Gillow and Wus or something like that, suddenly knocked on her door to tell her that Luz had been captured and taken by Lilith.</p><p>She had hurried of towards the castle, fury fueling her all the way. When she arrived, her sister had acted like nothing was going on. Like she had just invited her sister over for a cup of Appleblood or something. As a response, she had launched her staff into the wall behind her so called ‘family’.</p><p>Then the fool had dared her out for a witches duel. She should have known that she didn’t stand a chance. While Lilith had always been the smarter one, she was the stronger one. The battle at the convention she could have ended with too much trouble. But she didn’t want to bring to entire building down. Besides, it was still her sister.</p><p>But now Lilith had overstepped her boundary’s by taking Luz from her. she still held back slightly, wanting to hurt her sister, but not <em>too </em>bad. During the fight, she could feel the curse creeping closer to the surface. She had to finish this, and fast.</p><p>Then, while the two were bickering about who the stronger one was, the black haired witch had confessed something that basically flipped Eda’s world upside down. That she, her own older sister, the person she had trusted most in her childhood, was responsible for her curse. That she had cursed her while she was still a damn child!</p><p>That, as they would say on Earth, broke the camel’s back. In blind fury, she had rushed at her sister, striking her head on. As she hit the wall and was recovering, the furious women had prepared the final blow. As she prepared the blast, she saw her sister’s eyes widen. With that last glance at her so called sister, she let go of the energy gathered.</p><p>the next things that happened had changed everything about the fight. The shot got blocked, and a voice had come from one of the shadows by the entrance of the palace. Someone had stepped out. the moment the persons face had come into view, Eda had paled.</p><p>She had called out, but the reaction wasn’t at all what she had expected. Before she knew it, she had surrendered and had been put in this cell.</p><p>The imprisoned thief let out a sad sigh. “how? How could you do this to me? I trusted you, and would have given my life for you.” she muttered to herself.</p><p>“why did you do this?”</p><p>“talking to yourself sister?” Eda would recognized the voice anywhere. She scowled.</p><p>‘<em>I really can’t use this right now. Doesn’t she have anything else to do then to annoy me?!’</em></p><p>Her sister walked into view. “that mostly points towards insanity, you know that?” she said calmly.</p><p>Eda hissed at her. “Oh will you just shut it.”</p><p>Lilith scoffed. “that is no way to talk to your sister Edalyn.”</p><p>“Yeah!? Well I think it is, if that sister also ruined your childhood and your entire life by cursing you to turn into a dangerous beast, which made me a total outsider.” She scowled right back. “and where were you? Cozy at home, a place where I could not go back to because of you. You were able to study and become successful, like we had always dreamed. While I was probably rotting away in the back of an alleyway!” she shouted as she stood up.</p><p>This made Lilith look away in guilt. “I didn’t know that it would turn out like this. I didn’t think that-“</p><p>“and there we have the problem! You didn’t think! That seems to be the main cause of all of the problems you make. You don’t think.” Eda called out.</p><p>“that’s not fair!” The black haired witch exclaimed. “I have been extremely busy to try to heal your curse. And if you would’ve allowed the Emperor to do his thing and had joined the coven, then this wouldn’t have happened!” She looked at the feathers on her sister’s limbs. <em>‘it has gotten way worse since the last time I saw it. we need to hurry.’</em> She was snapped out of her thoughts by the other witch shouting at her.</p><p>“which you caused! To not even mention that Belos probably doesn’t even want to help me! And even if he does, I don’t want his help!” the younger sister protested. “what even made you do it in the first place?! It had to be something major to have to do this to your own blood. Your own younger sister, who you swore to protect!” it was obvious that Eda wouldn’t take no for an answer.</p><p>The coven leader sighed. “You remember the duel?”</p><p>“What duel?”</p><p>“The duel which had to determine who would get the last spot in the Emperor’s coven.” Lilith braced herself for her sisters reaction.</p><p>The Owl Lady muttered to herself for a moment, until she remembered. “Ooooh, <em>that</em> one. What about it?” she asked skeptically. Then her eyes widened, and a raging fire was lit inside of them. “Wait! So the only reason of why you cursed me, was to get into the coven?! Had you completely lost your marbles Lilith!?”</p><p>“I didn’t know what to do!” the witch cried out. “I was nervous. You were always stronger than me, and had worked twice as hard.”</p><p>“So because little Lilith was scared, she instead cursed her own sister while she was sleeping.” Eda glared. “Yeah, that sounds logical.”</p><p>“I sincerely didn’t know that it would do what it did. All it said at the night market was that it would weaken your magic.”</p><p>The gray haired witch facepalmed. “You bought it at the night market, what did you expect? That it would do what it promised?”</p><p>“I was desperate okay! I thought that it would be temporarily. Turns out I was wrong.” She looked everywhere but her sister. ‘The next day when you forfeited, I already felt bad. but then I saw you transform, and I…I froze up. I couldn’t believe that I was responsible for this.”</p><p>“Maybe. But you didn’t run after me either. Instead you just stood there and claimed your prize.” The wild witch huffed. “The prize of being in the coven of your dreams, and the prize of becoming only child.”</p><p>Lilith’s eyes widened. “I never wanted that. You know that I always wanted us both to get in, never alone. That’s practically what I have been trying to do for the last years!”</p><p>“But you still did it.” the women threw up her arms. “Heck, you could have just talked to me and could have told me! I would have forfeited and I would try again next year!” she glared at her sister. “But nooooo. Prissy little Lilith didn’t think it through and instead ended up ruining her sisters life!”</p><p>The coven witch huffed. “Is that all you can say? Blaming me for that? That’s low, even for you.”</p><p>“Oh! Oh! You wanna talk about low?!” Eda reacted, frustrated. “Then let’s talk about your other big mistake! Kidnapping my kid!!”</p><p>“she not your kid Eda. Heck, she’s not even of our blood, let stand family.”</p><p>Lilith recoiled as Eda hit the iron bars with her fist. “She was more family to me then you are right now.” She looked down, sad. “she meant more to me then you could imagine.” She turned towards the back wall of her cell. “She changed me Lilith. She made me better, made everyone who came in contact with her better.”</p><p>The black haired witch frowned. “That may be, but it was necessary. It was the only way to get you here.”</p><p>Eda didn’t turn around. “Whatever. And I may not know what happened, but I will fix it no matter what.” Lilith cocked an eyebrow and was about to ask her sister what she meant, when the women walked back towards her bed and sat down. “Now can you go away? I want to be alone.”</p><p>Lilith hesitated, but nodded none the less. “sure. But remember, tomorrow you have an appointment with the Emperor to heal your curse.” She said, then walked away. “We’ll pick you up at around nine in the morning. You better be awake.”</p><p>As the Owl Lady heard the dungeon door close, she sighed. “what happened to ya kid? What happened?”</p><p> </p><p>As Lilith walked out of the dungeons, her guilty thoughts creeped up to her.</p><p>
  <em>‘I know that she’s angry. And she had every right to be, but why doesn’t she see that everything I’m trying to do is for her wellbeing? I have literally dedicated entire decades to finding a cure, and now that I have it, she is denying it.’</em>
</p><p>The witch quickly made her way through the halls. She past a multitude of coven guards, which wasn’t all that surprising seeing that it was kind of their headquarters. Most of them stayed silent, but there were some which greeted her with: “Good day Miss Clawthorne.”</p><p><em>‘huh.’</em> The witch thought. <em>‘must be new recruits.’</em></p><p>The women was so lost in her thoughts about her cursed sister, that she did not notice someone in front of her. which resulted in her getting knocked on her butt.</p><p>“oof”</p><p>“Oh. I’m sorry Miss Lilith.” The person said.</p><p>But she waved it off. “no. no. It’s my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” When the coven leader looked up, she saw someone who she was unfamiliar with.</p><p>Sure, they wore the cloak of the coven, and even a mask. But they were different. Her mask for example wasn’t the same as all of the others. Any normal mask of the coven had the shape of ravens, but this one wasn’t that at all. It rather looked like an owl. They also looked incredibly young compared with everyone else. Seemed to be a teenager.</p><p>“still, I shouldn’t have bumped into you. Here, let me help you up.” The figure said as they extended a hand.</p><p><em>‘And the voice. It sounds like no one I know here, but still sound familiar.’ </em>“uhm, thank you.” the older witch said as she grabbed the person’s hand. As she was back on her feet, she brushed the dust of her dress. Then  she looked at the figure. “do I know you? you seem familiar.”</p><p>The figure let out a small laugh. “oh, you <em>do</em> know me. You just don’t know it’s me.” That didn’t help at all. “now if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment with the Emperor.” The figure walked away. “nice seeing you though.” They waved.</p><p>Lilith was slightly dazed from the interaction. <em>‘that was… definitely new.’</em>  But she didn’t ponder too much about it, and continued on her way towards her office. While she walked, she started thinking about what her sister had said at the end of their conversation. <em>‘what did she mean with ‘what happened’ and ‘fixing it’? Did something happen that I’m not aware of?’</em></p><p>As she finally reached her office and after she made sure that she closed and locked the door behind her, she sat down behind her desk. she let out an exhausted sigh. To say that she hasn’t slept to well in the last few days was an understatement. The only things capable of holding her awake in the morning are Heavy Morning elixirs. Apparently they acted the same as a thing called ‘coffee’ in the human realm, only with a magical touch.</p><p>The many reason of why she hadn’t been able to sleep was obvious. Her sister.</p><p>She had fought so many years for her sister to be cured. And tomorrow it was finally time. Finally, after all of the blood, sweat and tears, her sister would be back to normal. She would come back to her.</p><p>Sure, Eda acted like she would immediately incinerate her the moment she was able to get her hands of Lilith. But she knew that when the curse was lifted, her sister would see that everything that had happened, had been necessary and would be thankful for it. She would join the coven and leave her criminal life behind for once and for all, including her so called ‘apprentice’.</p><p>Lilith frowned. What she still didn’t understand was: where was the human? She hadn’t seen her since she left to go and confront Eda.</p><p>And about that, what had exactly happened?</p><p>The last thing she remembers was her sister firing a blast to finish her off, and the next thing she knows, she woke up in the hospital wing of the palace.</p><p>Something wasn’t adding up.</p><p>But knowing that she had work to do, she grabbed the small pile of papers which stood on a corner of her desk, and got to work. As she worked, she saw the small note which had appeared on her desk about two days ago. it was written by the Emperor himself. It also had a small wooden statue and it said that she had to carry it with her and that it was of the utmost importance that she would keep it safe until he told her otherwise. A weird request, but who was she to deny a direct order from her Emperor.</p><p>So, she had put in her deepest pocket and had taken it with her the last two days. As she felt to see if it was still there, she felt nothing.</p><p>Starting to sweat, she quickly felt around the rest of her dress. But to her great worry, she came up with nothing.</p><p><em>‘oh no! oh no! oh no!’ </em>she thought. <em>‘if I somehow lost it, I’m in massive trouble.’ </em>She jumped up from her chair and started to look around the room. Not being able to find it, she started thinking of the places where she could have possibly lost it.</p><p>At first, she came up with nothing. But then it hit her as her eyes widened.</p><p>The situation in the hallway, with the recruit. They had probably taken it from her pocket when she bumped into her or something. To say that the witch was angry was an understatement. She was furious. Luckily for her, she knew exactly where the person was at the moment.</p><p>As she stomped out of her office, she thought about all of the different ways that she was going to teach the kid some manners.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile in the throne room itself, the Emperor sat on his seat with the Titan’s heart beating at a steady pace above him. Things had been going well for him recently. Not only has he managed to get a hold on one of the last wild witches on the Isles, but tomorrow she was set up for a public petrification. She would serve as an example for the rest who dared to veer of the right path.</p><p><em>His </em>path.</p><p>Sure, Lilith wouldn’t agree with it. but he didn’t care all that much. If everything was going to go like planned, he would have a replacement for her, just in case. Heck, if it would turn out even better then expected, she wouldn’t be necessary anymore.</p><p>She may be a strong witch of a well-known bloodline, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t able to be replaced by someone better than her.</p><p>while he listened to his own thoughts and the Titans calming heartbeat, a knocks was heard on the door. But because the room was so empty, the knocks may as well have been cannon shots.</p><p>“Come further.” Belos spoke.</p><p>The massive doors opened, and the weird looking coven member stepped in. “Greetings, my Emperor.” The person said with a bow.</p><p>“Rise.” The man said. and the figure did like it was told. “Did you do what I asked of you?” he could almost see them grin behind their mask.</p><p>“Not even a problem.” The figure said as they held up a small wooden statue. “she was kind of suspicious about me though. Mainly about who I was.”</p><p>The Emperor gave a slight nod. “I expected that from her. she might not be the brightest, but she’s definitely smart enough to keep track of everybody here.” he said as he levitated the statue towards him. “now tell me, how did you take it from her?”</p><p>The figure scoffed dismissively. “all I had to do was walk into her, knocking her down in the process. And when I helped her up, she didn’t suspect anything. So when I walked past her, I quickly snatched it from her pocket.”</p><p>Belos hummed approvingly. “seems like your former teacher actually thought you something.”</p><p>The figure huffed. “please, the only thing she thought me was to act on my own accord and that I could not trust anyone.” She sighed. “that, and stealing.”</p><p>The Emperor stood up from his throne. “she wasn’t the best role model, I presume?”</p><p>The figure laughed. “not really no. on my official first day here I was send into a town full of monsters, without any experience, which would have been able to devour me in <em>seconds</em>. I was also almost killed!” she exclaimed. “sure, she helped me on certain points. But right now I just want to stay as far away from her as possible.”</p><p>“understandable.” The man agreed. “and it’s thanks to you that we finally got her.”</p><p>They waved it off. “It was nothing really. All I did was stop your best soldier from being shot to bits and made the Owl Lady surrender.” She then looked away from him. “also, maybe a weird question, but can I take of the mask? It’s kinda getting hot in here.”</p><p>“that is not standard, but I will allow you too.” He said as the person sighed in relieve and started removing it. “I have a feeling you’re going to achieve great things, Miss Noceda. Things that others could only dream of.”</p><p>As the mask was pulled of, it revealed brown hair, tan skin and brown eyes. “I can only hope, My Emperor.” Luz said with a proud smirk.</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>soooooooo, what did you think?</p><p>No, seriously. I really want to know. was it good? was it too cliché? too forced?<br/>Please leave your opinions and advice in the comments down below.<br/>A story line is forming in my head. it wonky, but I'll figure it out.</p><p>the artwork of this chapter is brought to you by DoggoFroggouwu. She does amazing work with with her art, and deserves the full credit.</p><p>hope to see you all next chapter. and I know its early, but happy New Year everybody!<br/>Gr Elementalwriter</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Lie, A Plan, A Promise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope You Enjoy. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2.</p><p> </p><p>Lilith was absolutely pissed as she walked through the halls. And everyone saw it, as smoke was almost coming from her ears.</p><p>Wanting no trouble with the powerful witch, everyone stepped out of her way the moment they saw her. Right now, she was someone who you should not mess with. Or even talk to.</p><p><em>‘How dare the little rat steal from me?! I swear, when I tell Belos about this, he will be furious.’</em> She thought.</p><p>As she stood in front of the giant doors leading to the room of her leader, she smirked as she heard voices from the other side. <em>‘Good. The meeting is still busy. Time to catch them red handed.’. </em>she knocked.</p><p>“Come in.” said the Emperor’s voice. She quickly did was she was told. As she entered, she saw the Emperor sitting on his throne, regal as ever, but she also saw the thief standing in the middle of the room.</p><p>She bowed. “Greetings, my Emperor.” She said. “I have come with dire news.”</p><p>“And what may that be?”</p><p>She looked at him. “My Emperor, I’m afraid that the totem you have given to me was stolen from me.” She then pointed towards the guard. “and it was none other then this guard right here!”</p><p>Belos looked at the guard, who looked back in response. Getting the hint, they said: “guilty as charged.” As they shrugged.</p><p>Lilith frowned. This wasn’t what she had expected at all. She thought that they would be defending themselves, but they didn’t even try. None the less, she got what she came for. “as you can see Sir, they even admit it.” she pointed out. “Now I understand that they shall be punished for their actions.” She was trying really hard to not smile.</p><p>Belos hummed. “that won’t be necessary Lilith.”</p><p>“great to hear. That shall tea…. Wait what?” the black haired witch said, confused at her leaders reaction. “I’m sorry Sir, but could you please repeat that? Because I think I heard it wrong. I heard you say that-“</p><p>“She wouldn’t get punished, yes.” He interrupted her. “Also Lilith, it is not an it or they. it’s a she.”</p><p>Lilith started stuttering. “B-b-but why? Why is it, I mean she, not getting what she deserves?” she then slightly paled at the rudeness. She shouldn’t doubt the Emperor’s decisions, but she had to know.</p><p>“oh, believe me. She’s getting what she deserves.” The masked man spoke up. “but why would I punish her for doing something I asked of her?”</p><p>The female witches jaw practically hit the ground. “Bu-I-wha-….Huh?”</p><p>The guard started laughing at her reaction. “Oh my Titan! Your face! Priceless!” she said as she held her stomach. That snapped the women from her confused state.</p><p>Lilith glared at her. “oh shush it you!” she then turned back towards her Emperor. “But, why Sir?”</p><p>Belos got up from his throne. “To test her of course. And I’ve got to say, she did exceptionally well.”</p><p>Having recovered from her laughing fit, the guard gave a grateful bow. “That means a lot for me, coming from you Sir.” Lilith couldn’t see her face, due to the mask. But she knew that she had a mocking grin on her face.</p><p>“I wanted to see how she would act in a situation regarding stealth, in case I would send her out on a mission.” He explained. “so I send you the wooden totem and told you to keep it safe. Then I gave her the mission to retrieve it from you without you noticing.”</p><p>“But I noticed.” Lilith commented. “sure, I noticed it only twenty minutes later after she stole it, but I still did.”</p><p>Before Belos could react, the guard jumped in. “Oh don’t act all high and mighty about it. If I was a thief on the streets and it wasn’t a worthless piece of wood, I would have been long gone already. By the time you would have noticed it, I could have been on the other side of town.” She then shook her head disappointingly. “But to be honest, I had expected a little more from the Emperor’s left hand. Not right hand since, you know, Kikimora.” She snickered. “I expected that you would have caught me instantly, seeing your reputation. one minute late, an honest mistake. Five? That is understandable, but less. Ten, your just sloppy. But twenty? Then I’m really starting to doubt that you even cared. I mean, it was an assignment given to you by the Emperor himself! Come on lady!”</p><p>Lilith growled at her. “no one asked for your opinion.” She then turned back towards Belos. “But Sir, you have never done anything like this before, why with her?”</p><p>“because Lilith,” he explained. “Just like you and your sister, she has a high potential.” he then walked over towards the guard. “And since she passed the test, she’s one step closer to becoming my student.”</p><p>The women’s eyes widened. “Y-your student, Sir?”</p><p>“Indeed. You see, not only does she have the potential to become one of the strongest witches on the Isles and does she have specific skills which no one else has, with the right teacher she can become stronger then both you <em>and </em>your younger sister ever will be.” He said in a calm tone. “and who would be a more fitting teacher then the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles.”</p><p>He then stood next to his ‘to be student’. “Lilith Clawthorne, may I introduce to you, my possible student, and probably your successor, Luz Noceda.”</p><p>the witch’s pupils turned to pinpricks of disbelief. <em>‘what?! The human student of Edalyn!? It can’t actually be her, right? She’s a human after all. She can’t do magic, she’s inferior to us. he wouldn’t actually-?’</em></p><p>But her thoughts got interrupted by the guard taking of their helmet, revealing the face of the Latina human herself. “good to see you face to face again Lilith. You know, without this thing in the way.” She said as she held up her mask.</p><p>The shocked witch could not believe her eyes. “but, but, but-… why?!” she called out, not caring how it came out. “she’s a human. She can’t do magic. She’s practically useless to us.”</p><p>“hey!” Luz called out, angered by the witches last comment. “be a little more respectful to the one who saved your behind on the bridge, okay?! Without me, the Owl Lady would have obliterated you.”</p><p>“wait, what?” she turned towards her leader. “is that true?”</p><p>The Emperor simply nodded. “indeed, she really saved you from either more injuries, or even death itself.”</p><p>“yeah,” the human agreed. “some a little less on the hate comments.”</p><p>Lilith scoffed. “why are you even here?” she asked. “aren’t you Edalyn’s apprentice?”</p><p>The brunette shook her head. “Nope. Not anymore. Not after realizing what kind danger she actually is.” She huffed. “All she did was stealing and lying. Sure. Sometimes she helped, but most of the time we had to do things ourself. To not even mention the problems she caused as the Owl Beast. She almost killed me <em>twice</em>!” she threw up her arms. “Most of the magic I know, I had to learn on my own, before Hexside came into the picture! She kind of helped with the ice glyph. But even then, I discovered it on my own while she was about to get eaten! All she made me do was eat snow, smell moss, sort sticks and then sit on a rock!” Luz didn’t even notice how she had started to raise her voice.</p><p>“Luz, calm down.” The Emperor spoke.</p><p>The human started to take deep breaths. In a few seconds, she had calmed down enough. “sorry, my liege. I let myself go.”</p><p>“nothing to worry about right now, as long as you don’t do it a second time.” The masked man said. “now, how about you go back to your quarters while I finish up with Lilith?” Luz nodded, bowed and then started walking away.</p><p>As she reached the doors, she turned back towards Lilith. “Hope to work together with you soon.” She said mockingly, then put on her mask and walked out.</p><p>“aaaaah, anger.” Belos spoke. “such a strong emotion.”</p><p>He then turned back towards Lilith. “Now Miss Clawthorne, I expect you to not interrupt her tests and training. If I find out that you are standing between her and her end goal, I won’t hesitate to step in. It is the Titan’s wish that she will be trained, and so she shall be trained.” he spoke. “Am I clear?”</p><p>The witch quickly nodded. “Yes, of course your Majesty.” The Emperor gave a small nod in response and sat down on his throne. “and Sir. Now that I’m here, may I ask you a question?” her response was again, a small nod. “well, I wanted to know how curing my sister was going to take place. Is it going to be here in the castle with the healing ceremony, or is it going to be public so everyone can see, or-“</p><p>“Oh, believe me Lilith, it will be public.” The man spoke. “But I will not be healing her.”</p><p>“But,” the women spoke. “But you promised.”</p><p>The masked tyrant turned away from her. “Oh don’t be naïve Lilith. It’s only the Titan’s will that every single wild witch needs to be dealt with before the day of unity arrives.” He then leaned in close. “You understand, don’t you?”</p><p>“I..I do. Of course.”</p><p>“Good.” He was going to walk away, but then stopped and turned back towards her. “Oh, one more thing.” He said he summoned Eda’s staff and Owlbert into Lilith’s hands. “Destroy the Owl lady’s staff. She wont be needing it anymore.” He said as he walked out of the room.</p><p>The black haired witch looked after him as he walked through the giant doors. As they closed behind him, she looked down at the staff and palisman in her hands. “Oh, Edalyn. What have I done?!”</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile at Blight Manor, Amity sat in her room. She had been there for the last few days, her parents not allowing her to leave. luckily, things called crystal balls and scrolls existed. If not, she would have gone mad with just laying there with her painful leg.</p><p>Right now she was in a call with Willow. The two of them had really gotten closer after the memory incident and the Grudby match. The two were talking about school, when something popped into the witch’s head.</p><p>“Hey Willow. How has Luz been actually?” she asked. She frowned as she saw her friend’s eyes widen and her body stiffen up.</p><p>“Uhm, why are you asking?”</p><p>“Well, she’s my friend too.” She explained, while still wary about the plant witch’s behavior.</p><p>“Are you sure she’s just a ‘friend’ to you?” Willow said teasingly while trying to change the subject.</p><p>The youngest Blights face immediately turned red. “wha..you..I..she….. Shut up!” she called out. “I’m concerned about her, as anyone should be! To not even mention that I haven’t heard from her all week so far! And since I have been stuck here she practically calls four times a day if I let her.”</p><p>Willow raised an eyebrow. “Four times? Really?”</p><p>Amity sighed. “okay, six. But that’s not the point. The point is that I’m worried about her and that you’re constantly avoiding my question!”</p><p>Willow sighed. “It’s just…. It’s complicated.” She said as she looked away from her ball.</p><p>“Complicated?! Willow, since she arrived here, everything has been complicated!” The angry witch argued. ‘<em>like my own thoughts and feelings towards her.’ </em>she thought. She then heard her friend snicker, and realized that she had said that out loud. “Uhm, I.. Hold up!”</p><p>Willow let out a small laugh. “don’t you worry Amity, it was very obvious.” She then frowned. “But, you’re right. I should tell you, it’s only fair I guess.”</p><p>Amity smirked. “Bring it. I can handle it.”</p><p>She could not handle it.</p><p>Willow explained everything. Eda’s curse, the trip to the palace, Luz’s plan to steal the healing hat, them getting caught and them being send back towards the Owl House, without Luz, to deliver a message for Eda. “And that’s the last moment we saw her.”</p><p>The Blight was speechless. Seeing her reaction, Willow commented: “told you it was complicated.”</p><p>A few seconds later, Amity managed to recover form the initial shock. “so that’s where she is? In the castle?”</p><p>Willow shrugged guiltily. “That’s my best guess, but I’m not sure. Eda could’ve also rescued Luz and they can be laying low right now.”</p><p>The green haired girl hummed. “Maybe.”</p><p>Before the two of them could continue, they got interrupted by Gus joining them in the call. “Guys!”</p><p>“Hey Gus.” Willow greeted. Amity just nodded.</p><p>“are you two watching the news right now?” he said. he seemed really nervous.</p><p>Both female witches looked confused. “No. Why?” Amity asked.</p><p>“go to channel 1. Its really bad!” he said franticly.</p><p>The green haired witch raised an eyebrow, but did it none the less. She quickly turned on her crystal ball and went to the right channel. Gus’s father be seen in front of the Emperor’s castle.</p><p>“Perry Porter, coming to you live, from outside the Emperor’s castle. Edalyn Clawthorne, commonly known as Eda the Owl Lady, has been captured and has been brought in front of the Emperor.”</p><p>The view the switches to Kikimora standing on a podium, giving a speech. “for the crime of attacking a coven leader and refusing to join a coven, Edalyn Clawthorne’s body shall be petrified in stone. Tomorrow, early evening, at the Conformatorium.”</p><p>the three witches all let out a small gasp at that.</p><p>Then Perry came back on screen. “today and tomorrow are a grave days for Bonesborough.”</p><p>Gus turned back towards his friends. “Did you three hear that?!”</p><p>Willow and Amity nodded. “Of course. We have to do something.”</p><p>“indeed, we can’t just let this go.” the Blight agreed.</p><p>“But what are we going to do?” the boy exclaimed. “besides Amity, you still have a broken leg. You’re barely able to stand.”</p><p>The witch huffed in defiance. “I’ll be able to help, no problem. So count me in!” she wasn’t just going to sit there and watch. What kind of friend would she be?!</p><p>Willow looked her in the eyes, still skeptical. “I don’t know. It may be better if-“</p><p>“No, arguments!” Amity called out. “I have made my decision, and nothing or nobody will change my mind. Even my parents!”</p><p>a few seconds past, until Willow let out a sigh. “seeing that there is no changing your mind, fine. But remember, it was your decision.” Amity nodded.</p><p>“I know. And I’m not afraid to get hurt.” ‘<em>especially for her.’</em> She then frowned. “But first of all, we’re going to need a plan. Anyone got something?”</p><p>The teens fell silent.</p><p>“weeell, let’s see what we’re dealing with.” Gus said. “so the main object right now is to safe Eda from petrification and becoming a statue for the rest of eternity. She’s probably guarded right now, to not even mention that she’s in the Emperor’s castle, which is like a fortress, so we won’t be able to get to her now. And we won’t be able to attack the transport when she’s brought over towards the Conformatorium, since that will be guarded as well. So our best bet is to do it while she’s at the location. It will have guards walking around as well, but it’s then or never. They probably won’t start immediately, which gives us some time. It’s also public, so maybe we can use that to our advantage and sneak inside?”</p><p>Willow frowned. “I don’t know. As you said, everything is guarded. But it is our only chance.” She then got an idea. “we can also start a small uprising. I mean, Eda is very important to Bonesborough and the people will probably want her to be spared.”</p><p>Amity hummed approvingly. “that isn’t such a bad idea.” It then hit her. “but what if we do both?” the two other witches gave her a confused look. “what if, we cause a distraction by starting a protest with the citizens, so we can sneak inside and get her out. and if the second part doesn’t work, we always have the first part which could work.”</p><p>Gus grinned. “That is not a bad plan. That could actually work!” Willow nodded.</p><p>The trio quickly started to discus the specific details of their mission. They were going to be ready when to time came, even if that meant they had to pull an all-nighter.</p><p><em>‘don’t worry you two.’ </em>Amity thought to herself. ‘<em>we’ll get you out, I promise you.’</em></p><p> </p><p>As Luz walked through the halls, she got a lot of looks from the other coven members. But that didn’t surprise her. she looked different, which she was actually used to, be it on the Boiling Isles or in the human world.</p><p>But despite all of the gazes, she was able to walk towards her room without a problem.</p><p>“Hey squirt!”</p><p>Almost with a problem.</p><p>As the human turned around, she saw a coven member approach her. “I didn’t know that we now took children as members.” He jabbed.</p><p>Luz frowned. “well, as you can see, they do now.”</p><p>The man scoffed. “yeah, sure kid. So were are your parents?”</p><p>“Excuse me, what?!”</p><p>“you heard me, where are your parents? The only reason of why you should be here is because they brought you here. I mean, come on. They even gave you a bad looking copy of our uniforms.” A small crowd had started to gather, many of them wanting to know what was going on. “I understand that you want to become like us. but you’re going to have to wait a few more years, okay?” he said as he put his hand on her head. “kids huh.” He said towards the others.</p><p>Luz scowled. “I don’t know if <em>you </em>know, probably not, but I personally work for our Emperor. So if you don’t want to get in trouble with him, you better get out of my way.”</p><p>“ooooh, I’m so scared.” The guard mocked. “look out everyone, it the Emperor’s personal guard. Everybody bow for her greatness.” He gave a mocking bow. He then quickly got back up again and said. “okay, enough kid. Enough with all of this nonsense. Let’s find those parents of yours.” He grabbed her arm.</p><p>“Hey!” the human cried out. “let me go!”</p><p>“I said enough kid. I don’t want to use force, but I will if I have to.” The guard replied.</p><p>But Luz was having none of it. “Let go of me right now, or else!”</p><p>The man looked back at her. “or else what? What can you possibly do agai-“</p><p>He got interrupted by Luz throwing a plant glyph on the ground, which immediately grew massive vines. Overcome by the shock, the guard was unable to react in time as the vines lunged at him. In a matter of two seconds, the man was completely trapped and unable to move.</p><p>“what the- what is this?!” he called out. His eyes full of shock. He tried to get out, but with no luck.</p><p>Luz grinned as she directed the plant to level the man with her.</p><p>When he was on eyelevel with her, she spoke. “Now listen here, buddy. You may not believe it, but I’m closely connected to the Emperor himself. So if you have a problem with me being here or something, you can take it up with him. Alright?” she said with a cold voice. “and I would watch out if I were you. Because before you know it, I’ll be your new boss. So show a little respect. Understood?!” she growled.</p><p>The guard nervously nodded and Luz dropped him on the ground. “Good.” She then walked past him like nothing had happened, while he was recovering from the initial shock. “Now don’t forget it.” Every single guard stepped away as she approached, making a small path for her.</p><p>‘<em>Yeah, now you’ll think twice about doing something like that, won’t you?’ </em>she thought.</p><p>After a few minutes of walking, she reached the stairs of the tower leading to her room. As she made her way up, she remembered why she had gotten it in the first place .She had mainly gotten this specific room, so she wouldn’t be bothered by people walking around as she was studying. Belos had expected a lot form her, and she was not ready to disappoint.</p><p>A few moments past until she reached her room, seeing that it was at the top. She quickly stepped inside and looked around. Even though it didn’t have much stuff and she had only gotten it three days ago, but she already felt at home.</p><p>The walls were covered with an oak motive, with golden rims. It had a big bed, easily big enough for two people. There was a dark wooden desk with a leather chair, as well as a closet, a nightstand and a big bookcase of the same material. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling, giving it a certain flair, as well as a fireplace. Her room also had a big window with a comfy chair which allowed her to look out over a wide field of terrain. And to finish it of, it came with her own personal bathroom with shower and bathtub.</p><p>Luz let out a sigh of relief as she took of her cape and mask. She really had to ask Belos if they couldn’t make her outfit from materials which would make her feel like she’s inside of an oven. She opened her closet and hung them up on the clothing rack. She then turned towards the mirror on the inside of the door.</p><p>The human gave herself a quick once over.</p><p>She didn’t look bad. she actually looked cleaner and maybe even healthier then when she lived at the Owl House. probably mostly because here they had actual showers, while there they only had a small room with barely any privacy, seeing that an house owl demon could suddenly pop in through the window.</p><p>Luz shivered as she remembered the first time that had happened. Luckily for her she had been wearing a bathrobe. Here, she could just shower in peace.</p><p>After putting away her stuff, she was about to lay down on her bed for a bit. But then noticed a few pieces of paper on her desk. Knowing that those weren’t there before she left, she looked at the first one.</p><p>“Plans for the petrification tomorrow.” She muttered to herself. “Why does he want me to be there?” as she picked up the next one, she got her answer.</p><p>
  <em>Luz Noceda.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You have successfully completed most of the tasks that I have given you in the last few days that you have been here. Now, its time for one of your final tests. As you have probably guessed, I want you to be at the petrification tomorrow. And you’re probably asking yourself why. You see, I see this an opportunity to test your loyalty. I want you to stand on the same podium as your former teacher, and watch her get petrified. If you can withstand that, then that means that you have completely rid yourself of her influence upon you. If not, I’m afraid that you won’t make it until the end and we’ll have to stop your training.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The other documents will introduce some of the possible threats that can happen during the ceremony. From a storm of rodents, to the entire arena starting a fight to free her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As you know, I foresee great things for you. So I’m giving you this chance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t make me regret it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>(Tomorrow at eight in the morning, you have time to say goodbye to her, if you so desire.)</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Officially signed:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Emperor Belos.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Luz carefully put it aside, and grabbed one of the remaining documents. It was an overview of the ceremony. It showed the positions the guards would be taking, and were she would be standing.</p><p>“Who am I to refuse this offer?” She then grinned darkly. “and of course I will pay her a visit. It the polite thing to do, isn’t it?”</p><p>She then turned towards the window and took place in front of it. looking over the ravine surrounding the castle, she said: “I won’t disappoint you, my Lord. I’ll make sure that the Owl Lady gets what she deserves.”</p><p>“Even if it’s the last thing I’ll do.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey Everyone!<br/>So, Second Chapter of An Emperor's Human.<br/>first off, I did not expect this story to get the amount of attention it did.<br/>second off, I'm so happy with all of the comments. It really makes it feel like my work is achieving something. it also helps to focus on specific points. </p><p>Heck, because of one of you, I came up with an entire new plot point in the story!</p><p>thank you all for the great support. this kind of stuff fuels the engine, as you can say.</p><p>anyway, hope you all enjoyed it.<br/>any advise or opinions? leave them down below.</p><p>and I hope to see all of you next chapter.<br/>Gr Elementalwriter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Sympathy for the Owl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope You Enjoy. :)</p><p>artwork belongs to DoggoFroggouwu.</p><p>by the way, this is not the chapter which some of you probably expected. sorry for that. it just didn't work out.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 3:</p><p> </p><p>Because Luz was a human, she was underestimated a lot of times. Especially on the magical front. So imagine the surprise of the guards who dared her out for a duel and ended up moaning on the ground in pain.</p><p>The story of her little hallway accident had traveled fast. Practically every single guard in the castle knew at this point, not that it had really bothered her.</p><p>The thing that <em>did </em>bother her slightly, however, was the fact that a multitude of guards wanted to see if it was true by challenging her.</p><p>After she had finished looking through the documents, she had put her cloak and mask back on and had gone for a walk around the castle. But her plans got rudely interrupted, as the moment she had stepped off the stairs a guard had challenged her to a witches duel.</p><p>The fight didn’t last long, and the guard got dragged of the field while knocked unconscious. But she was far from done, as the next one popped up. And then another, and another.</p><p>In the first hour, about fifteen different guards had challenged her. And she had beaten all of them. Turns out that the people of the coven weren’t as strong as many presumed <em>or</em> she was just really good. Probably both. Seeing that the palace didn’t really had a combat ground, the fights were held outside past the bridge, near the purple forest.</p><p>“Anyone else!” she called out as her last opponent got dragged of the field while bound in a bunch of vines with his hands frozen over so he hadn’t been able to cast spells.</p><p>Many of who had been watching shook their heads franticly, while others just ran off as quick as they could. “good. Now that I have proven my worth, I expect to not be bothered anymore by any of you.” she spoke over the small crowd. Taking their silence as a yes, she walked off and disappeared between the trees as all of the eyes were on her.</p><p>While she strolled through the quiet trees, her mind started to drift back to what had been going on in the last days. She remembered the day that changed everything for her.</p><p>She had been so desperate to get the healing hat for her teacher, that she practically had risked her life for her. Then she and her friends had been caught by Lilith. And while Willow and Gus had been send back to deliver a message, she was held captive.</p><p>Lilith had been planning to drag her into the duel as a hostage, an advantage against her sister.</p><p>Luz scowled. From all of the things she had seen so far, that had been one of the lowest actions she had ever heard of.</p><p>But then Belos had stepped in. He told the women to hand her over to him. and so said, so done.</p><p>He had taken her to the throne room while Lilith went to wait on her sister. She had been skeptical and afraid. Not knowing what she could expect from him at all.</p><p>He had asked her some stuff. Some more personal then others, but not to much. When she had asked him why he wanted to know, he said that he had his sight on her for a little while now. “It doesn’t happen everyday that a human ends up on my Isles.” He had said. He told her that he had people keeping an eye on her since he got the news that a human girl had fought against Lilith’s protegee. And to hear that the human was the student of The Owl Lady herself made it even more interesting.</p><p>“I see potential in you child.” He had said as he stood up and looked at the Titan’s heart. “potential that I haven’t seen in a long while.” He then had turned towards her. “But something is holding you back. Something that you don’t want to come out because you fear for everyone around you.”</p><p>She had practically frozen up. How could he possibly know about <em>that</em>?! She had kept it in check for years, and he just points it out like its obvious.</p><p>Before Luz could dive any further, someone called out for her.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Miss?!” the human turned around and saw a coven member run up to her. “Miss, the Emperor has asked for your presence.”</p><p>Luz cocked an eyebrow. She may work for him, that doesn’t mean that she isn’t skeptical about his decisions. “did he tell you why?”</p><p>The women shook her head. “No. all he said was to get in contact with you as fast as possible.”</p><p>That made the human frown. She hadn’t known the Emperor for long. But if she had to guess, this wasn’t an all too common thing for him. “If you manage to reach hum before I do, tell him that I’m on my way.” The member nodded and sprinted back towards the castle.</p><p>Luz let out a sigh. “seems like the job is never done.” As she made her way back, she could feel a slight pressure on the back of her brain.</p><p> </p><p>Lilith sat at her desk, hands in her hair. When she left the throne room, her sister’s staff in hand, she had immediately made her way to her office. She had ignored everything around her. From the guards walking past, to Kikimora lightly mocking her.</p><p>“Oh sister. haven’t I caused you enough trouble?” she muttered to herself. “I thought I was helping you, but instead I have only made it worse.” She buried her face in her hands. “I somehow need to put an end to this.”</p><p>But what could she do? The dungeons were guarded all day and all night. And even though she had a high role in the coven, it would instantly be reported to Belos that she had entered. And she was supposed be nowhere near her sister tomorrow. The only time she would see her would be when they would transport her. But she also couldn’t help her there, as it would be guarded by multiple legions of guards.</p><p>Knowing that she wasn’t going to find an solution this way, she looked at her schedule. Her paper work was mostly done and she had done her daily patrol earlier today. She then looked at the little sticky note that was attached to it.</p><p>It said: Call Amity to see how she’s doing.</p><p>Lilith had to admit, since the whole convention thing, the two of them had a rough connection. But she was still her teacher and the Blight was still her student none the less. So when the girl ended up broking her leg, Lilith had made regular calls to see how she was doing.</p><p>Grabbing her crystal ball, she quickly dialed in Amity’s number. As it ringed, the raven haired witch hoped that her student would pick up. But her worries disappeared when Amity appeared on screen.</p><p>The younger witch frowned as she saw who it was. “Oh, it’s you.” she grumbled. “what do you want?”</p><p>Lilith winced at the reaction. “Good day Amity. How are you doing?”</p><p>“Why would you care?” Amity snapped back. “It’s not like you care about others normally.”</p><p>The older women frowned. “Okay, I can understand that you are not too happy about what happened at the convention, but it’s not possible that it’s still bugging you this much.”</p><p>The Blight huffed. “who said anything about the convention?! No, what I’m talking about is something you actually did recently and which is even worse.” Seeing her teachers confused expression, Amity shouted. “Capturing my friends!? Ringing any bells?!”</p><p>It clicked in the women’s head. “But Amity, you must understand that I was only doing my job. Those three had broken the rules and were attempting to steal one of the magical coven relics.” Lilith argued.</p><p>“yeah! A relic which Luz would try to heal your sister’s curse! You didn’t even listen to her! And now its gone forever!”</p><p>Lilith shook her head. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. Belos had told me long ago that the relics had lost most of their power. Sure, they could still be used and still worked, but they were way less powerful then they originally were. He said that the cause was that the magic of the wild witches who were still roaming the lands was interfering with the magical abilities, which weakened them.” The women pointed out. “besides, I send two of your friends back.”</p><p>But the younger witch still glared at her. “indeed, <em>two</em> of them. Where is Luz?!”</p><p>Lilith looked away, not really wanting to tell her student what was going on with her friend at the moment. “Well, she’s here.”</p><p>Amity cocked an eyebrow. “Why? Hasn’t she suffered enough with you taking Eda away from her? You got what you wanted, what use is she to you?!”</p><p>The women sighed. “the jurisdiction over the human does not lie with me. It lays with the Emperor.” The women then looked away. “besides, he lied to me.”</p><p>“he lied to you?” her student asked, skeptically. “In what way?”</p><p>“he told me that if I captured my sister, he would cure her from her curse. Turns out none of that was even remotely true. Instead he’s going to publicly petrify her tomorrow.” The older witch explained.</p><p>Amity nodded. “I heard. my friends and I watched it being announced.” She scoffed. “And they even said that <em>she </em>had attacked <em>you</em>, while <em>you </em>were the one to challenge <em>her</em> to a witches duel!”</p><p>Lilith looked shocked at that. She didn’t know that. “I…I wasn’t told about that. But why would they tell lies to the public? Don’t they deserve to know the truth?!”</p><p>The younger witch shrugged. “don’t know. But is seems like your precious coven isn’t such a golden child as we all thought.”</p><p>Lilith frowned. “I have started to notice that as well.” She then huffed. “And I would love to just be able to do something, but I can’t!” she slammed her fist onto the table. “How much I want to safe my sister but am unable to, just hurts!”</p><p><em>‘wow. I’ve never seen her like this.’ </em>The Blight thought as she watched her teacher get mad. Mad at the coven, mad at the Emperor. But mostly, mad at herself. <em>‘maybe I should-?’ </em>she shook her head. <em>‘nah. It’s to risky.’ </em>She then frowned as she saw small tears had started to form in her mentors eyes. <em>‘but still-.”</em></p><p>“hey, uhm, Miss Lilith?” Amity asked, attracting the attention from the guilty witch. “if there was a chance to rescue your sister, would you take it? No matter what or how?”</p><p>The reaction was instant, as the older witch nodded. “yes. I would take every opportunity in sight.” She said with a the few tears rolling down her face. “If I could, I would offer myself to be petrified instead of her.”</p><p>She sighed. “It’s the thing that I deserve after cursing her in the first place.”</p><p>Amity waved her hands in front of her. “wait. Wait. Hold up.” She then pointed an accusing finger at her teacher. “You’re the one who cursed her?!”</p><p>Lilith gave a sad nod. “Indeed. I cursed her when we were just young teenagers. She was about the same age as you are right now Amity, maybe one or two years older.”</p><p>She let out a sigh and started telling her the story. “Even as kids, we always had the dream of joining the Emperor’s coven, just like you. And just like you, we spend our days training to be able to achieve it.</p><p>Then, the moment had finally arrived, the Emperor’s coven was looking for new members. Sadly to our shock, they could only take one of us. it was decided that we would be dueling the next day. The winner would get to honor of being in the coven.” She let out another sigh. “and while I was pretty powerful myself, Edalyn always worked twice as hard. There was no way I could beat her.”</p><p>“so you just cursed her?!” Amity called out. “that was really the best solution you came up with?! Seriously?! Even Ed and EM wouldn’t be that dumb!” she could hear her brother and sister protesting down the hall, having heard her comment. But she just ignored them.</p><p>“You have to understand Amity, I was naïf and scared. I was about to lose my dream and I didn’t know if I would get another chance. That would’ve been devastating for me.” She then nodded. “But you’re absolutely right. I should have thought about other options. But at the time, I was desperate. And as Belos had always said that to be great, you have to make sacrifices.</p><p>So that night I went to the night market. I went looking for a way to give me an advantage. An amulet which amplifies your abilities, a powerful spell which I could use in that battle itself. Anything within reason would do.</p><p>Then I stumbled upon a stall with a bunch of old spells. Spells and enchantments no one had heard of in probably decennia. As I was looking through them, one of them caught my attention. It stated that it was a spell which would take away the magic abilities of the victim. I thought that it would only last for a day.</p><p>That same night, I cast it. And the very next day, I discovered that it was a grave mistake.” Lilith looked away from her crystal ball, not wanting to see the disappointment in her students face. “the next day, a bunch of people had gathered to watch ‘the duel between the Clawthorns’ as they called it.</p><p>We had just begun, when my sister called the duel to a halt.</p><p>She surrendered.”</p><p>Tears were starting to form again. “She said that she refused to fight me, even over her life long dream. And when she walked away, the curse struck. She cried out in pain and agony as her body twisted and turned into an ancient creature known as an owl beast. Disoriented and scares, she ran away as people threw garbage at her, chasing her away.</p><p>I wanted to go after her but got stopped.” The witch frowned. “they said that I had won, and it was time that I claimed my prize.”</p><p>For the next minute, neither said anything.</p><p>until Lilith broke the silence. “since then, I’ve tried to find ways to reverse her curse, to free her from the burden I have given her. Then, a multitude of years later, Belos reached out to me. At that point I had been rising up the ranks and I was one of the strongest in the coven. He told me that he knew of Edalyn’s ‘predicament’, and that he was willing to look into it, if I wanted him to.</p><p>I was ecstatic. I had not found a single way to cure her, and there was Emperor Belos, ready to help.</p><p>A few more years past, and I had risen to the rank right underneath the coven leader. Belos contacted me once again. He had news about his research.</p><p>He told me that he had found a possible cure, and that all I needed to do was bring her to him. I knew that could be a problem, as Edalyn had made quite the name for herself. To not even mention that I hadn’t seen her in years.</p><p>Then he said that as long as I wasn’t the leader of the coven, the search couldn’t completely start, as he had many other things to do. That motivated me to work even harder and the very next year I got promoted to coven leader. Since then, I have been looking for her.”</p><p>Amity gave her a deadpanned look. “isn’t ‘hunting’ a better word?” seeing the glare that she got send back, she explained. “I mean, I heard some things from Luz on how she and Eda had to run from the law multiple times. And hearing how excessive they were, it really sounds more like hunting then just looking.” She then flung up her arms. “think about it: the tactic that you used to get Eda is a tactic used to catch wild animals!”</p><p>“okay, the way you’re saying that indeed makes it sound like I was hunting her.” she then shook her head. “but that’s not the point here. The point is, is that I’ve literally used decennia of my life to help her. Even if the problem was originally caused by me.” She then gave Amity a determined look. “I’m willing to do <em>anything </em>to fix my mistakes.”</p><p>Amity could see in her eyes that she was not lying. And with that, she came to a decision. “okay Lilith. I still don’t like you because of all of this, but I can see that you care about your sister. that’s why I trust you enough to tell you that I, or rather <em>we</em> have a plan.”</p><p>Amity then send her a stern look.</p><p>“don’t make me regret this.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As Luz knocked on the doors of the throne room, she heard to too familiar “Come further.”. She quickly stepped inside. She saw the Emperor sitting on his throne, looking down on her. When she reached the stairs leading up to his throne, she bowed. “Greetings, Emperor Belos.”</p><p>“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?” he asked, as she straighten back up.</p><p>But Luz could hear that he didn’t really mean it. “Nah, nothing important, My Lord. I was just getting my thoughts straight with a calm walk through the forest.”</p><p>Belos hummed. “Well, it better has done it’s purpose, as I expect you at tomorrows event. I can assume that you’ve read the papers I’ve left for you?”</p><p>The human nodded. “Indeed, I have. And I’ve got to say that everything is looking really planned out and detailed. Are you expecting some sort of attack or something?”</p><p>“Not really no. But you can never be too careful. The Owl Lady needs to be put in her place and nothing will stop me from achieving that.”</p><p>“I take it that Lilith knows about it.” Luz said.</p><p>“She does. I told her after you left the room.” He then slightly cocked his head. “But why the curiosity?”</p><p>The brunette felt a slight shiver go up her back as he did that. And the way he said it didn’t help. She had seen him do that a few times now, and she thought it was just straight up creepy. But as the Emperor was still waiting for an answer, she explained. “You see, if I’m going to have to take a guess here, I’d say that Lilith isn’t all too on board with your idea.”</p><p>“she wasn’t.” Belos confirmed. “what are you trying to say here?”</p><p><em>‘If you’d stop with interrupting me, I could tell you!’ </em>Luz thought. “Because Lilith is so against it, don’t you think that she’ll try to free her sister? I mean, she’s powerful, she’s smart and she practically knows the coven through and through. To not even mention that she probably also has the some plans as you gave to me.</p><p>Which means that she should be able to sneak past the guards, knock out any who would pose a problem and free her sister without anyone noticing.”</p><p>Belos nodded slightly. “And that’s exactly why I put her on station in a place where she couldn’t possibly get to her sister without being noticed.” The man spoke. “And even if she should try to do anything, I would notice as I will also be present tomorrow.”</p><p>Luz gave a nod in understanding. “so, basically nothing can go wrong?”</p><p>“Oh, naïve human.” The Emperor spoke. “A lot can go wrong tomorrow, even with all of the preparations I have made.  But if something does, everyone shall be prepared for it. The Owl Lady shall pay for her crimes against the Titan and I shall finally get what I want.”</p><p>Luz scoffed. “she shall, I’ll make sure of it.” <em>‘and if you could not call me a naïve human that would be very much appreciated.’ </em>she thought.</p><p>“I’m sure you will.” Belos said. “That would be all. Return to your quarters as you have an important day tomorrow.”</p><p>“Yes, My Lord.” The human said with a bow. As she closed the massive iron doors behind her, she let out a huff. ‘<em>thank the Titan for that being over. He may be the Emperor and all, but that doesn’t make him a pleasant person to be around.’</em></p><p>as she made her way through the halls, she saw that a multitude of the guards stepped out of her way the moment they saw her. ‘<em>news travels fast around here, doesn’t it? At least now I get left alone instead of being demanded to fight someone, like some kind of trained animal.’</em></p><p> She quickly reached her tower and went upstairs, and when she reached the door of her room, she opened it and stepped inside. Once the door closed behind her, she let out a relieved sigh. Finally, her day was over.</p><p>She quickly undressed and hung up her outfit in the closet. She then put on something more comfortable, closed the blinds in front of her window and grabbed one of the books from the bookcase and laid down in her bed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Eda sat in the back corner of her cell.</p><p>She has had a lot of time to think recently. And normally she wouldn’t waste her time doing anything like that. ‘Do before you think!’ that was one of her main motto’s. but seeing that she could literally do nothing else expect that, she had no other choice. She couldn’t use her magic as she was wearing magic-blocking cuffs.</p><p>So it was either that, or just sit there, waiting for her ‘appointment’.</p><p>She scoffed. ‘<em>yeah, sure. ‘appointment’. Why would he even consider helping me?! I’m a wanted criminal. To not even mention that I have been actively avoiding his coven system for years now. The only reason of why he would cure me, would be so that he can use me for him ‘army’.</em></p><p><em>Not like I would even give him a chance!’ </em>she subconsciously growled. <em>‘not after what he did to my kid!’ </em>she clenched her fist. ‘<em>I don’t know what he did, or how he did it. but one think is for sure, if I get my hands on him, I’m going to KILL him.’</em></p><p>she looked around. Orange light streamed in through the windows, indicating that the day was reaching its end. It had already become slightly darker. But she was still able to see a lot as she was able to spot guards on the other side of the dungeon.</p><p>She then started scratching her arm as it started to itch like crazy. In the little bit of light that she had, she saw more feathers beginning to pop up.</p><p>Over the course of the last few hours, the curse had started to worsen. Her fingernails had grown into talons and the amount of feathers she had, had doubled and almost tripled. But her hearing had improved to fit more with a blind predator, which on its own was a good thing. You never know what kind of juicy details the guards were talking about.</p><p>Suddenly, she could hear footsteps approaching. This wasn’t all too weird as guards patrolled here all day and night. But the thing was that the guards never really dared to walk past her cell specifically, and even if they did, they would be trying to be cautious and as silent as possible and would keep as much distance from her which would be allowed.</p><p>But these steps weren’t cautious, and instead of walking past her cell they were heading right for it.</p><p>“Ha! Would you just look at this.” a voice spoke.</p><p>When Eda looked up, she saw three guards standing at the iron bars. “And this was once the most known wild witch on the Isles. And now look at her, rotting away in one of our cells.” He laughed. “caught by her own sister.”</p><p>The witch wanted to retort and give him a piece of her mind, but kept herself silent. She just looked at the ground in silence.</p><p>“aw, what’s wrong Owl Lady?” the guard mocked. “lost your tongue?”</p><p>“George, maybe you shouldn’t do that.” One of his friends spoke up.</p><p>The third guard nodded. “Julia is right. You shouldn’t poke the bear.”</p><p>The first one laughed. “hah! You guys do realize that she can’t do anything with those cuffs on, right? Her magic is blocked. So I can literally hit her if I wanted to and she wouldn’t be able to do anything back.” He then started to draw a spell circle.</p><p>“hey!” the third guard quickly stopped him. “what are you doing?!”</p><p>George huffed. “come on Leo, I’m only having some fun.”</p><p>Leo looked at his friend with annoyance. “that she’s trapped here doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to torture her for your own amusement.”</p><p>“oh calm down. It’s not like it’ll matter after tomorrow.” He then turned towards the prisoner. “Yeah, you heard that right. After tomorrow everything shall be over for you.”</p><p>This pulled Eda’s interest and she looked up. The guard saw the confused look in her eyes and acted surprised. “Oh, you haven’t heard?” he then smirked. “tomorrow you are the main guest at the big event tomorrow.” He then put his finger on his chin, pretending to think. “what was it called again. Oh yeah, the petrification of the Owl Lady, and you are sitting in the first row.” He snickered. “you better don’t be late.”</p><p>He then turned towards his companions. “are you two coming? This old fossil isn’t entertaining.”</p><p>‘<em>oh, I’ll show you entertaining when I break out of here and grab you by the neck.’ </em>Eda thought as she bared her fangs.</p><p>But the two other guards shook their heads. “nah, we’ll stay here for a little bit longer.”</p><p>George shrugged. “sure. Whatever you want.”</p><p>As he walked of, Eda glared at him. she just got to know that he existed, and she already hated him.</p><p>But she wasn’t the only one.</p><p>“unbelievable.” Julia spoke. “how can someone be such a jerk?!” Leo nodded in agreement.</p><p>The Owl Lady raised an eyebrow. “Not your friend I take it?”</p><p>Leo shook his head. “Not anymore. We were friends when we were kids. We had always dreamed of joining the coven, that was our lifegoal. But when we finally managed to join, he turned into a major asshole.”</p><p>Julia nodded. “since then he gained some kind of superiority complex or something. He thinks he’s way better then everyone else who is not in the coven, even if they could beat him with their hands bound to their back.” She called out. “just this evening he challenged a young girl to a witches duel. Rumor was going around that she was closely connected to Belos.”</p><p>She snickered. “He got his ass handed to him while he could not even get one hit in.”</p><p>Eda raised an eyebrow. “was the kid a human perhaps?”</p><p>The guards looked at each other, the turned back towards the captured witch.</p><p>“honestly, no idea. All we know is that it seemed to be a girl and that she wasn’t using spell circles like everyone else. Instead, she seemed to be using small pieces of paper or something.”</p><p>Eda nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s her alright.”</p><p>“Who?” Leo asked.</p><p>The women let out a sigh. “My student.”</p><p>Julia cocked her head. “I don’t want to be rude, but it looks like she’s not your student anymore. Seeing that, you know. you’re in here and she’s out there wearing a coven outfit. What happened?”</p><p>Eda frowned. “I have no idea.” She then threw an accusing glare at the two. “and why do you even care?”</p><p>Julia let out a sigh. “because we think that you deserve better then this.” Leo nodded.</p><p>“Yeah. You are not that bad of a person as the Emperor makes you out to be.”</p><p>It was something she didn’t expect. “uhm. What makes you say that?”</p><p>“you may not know it, but you saved my parents once.” The male guard replied. “It happened years ago, but still.”</p><p>“and you saved my little brother.” The female added. “Because of you he’s able to go to school and study to achieve his dream.”</p><p>Eda raised an eyebrow. “how are you two so sure that it was me? It could’ve been anyone.”</p><p>The guards looked at each other again, and then took of their masks. Leo had brown-reddish hair and green eyes and wore glasses, as Julia had black hair and blue eyes. Julia smiled. “because I don’t think that any person would just shout, “with the regards from the Owl Lady.” As they make their escape.”</p><p>“to not even mention that the witch looked <em>so</em> much like you, that it was you, or you have an identical twin.” Leo added with a smile. “we owe you a lot.”</p><p>“uhm.” Eda was slightly taken back by their answers. “If you owe me so much, can you just, oh I don’t know, let me out?”</p><p>Both guards frowned.</p><p>“even though we want to, we can’t.” the women said. “We don’t have the keys of this place, only some of the higher ups have those.”</p><p>“shoot.”</p><p>The man hummed in agreement. “Honestly, the only thing that we can do is talk to you sister or something, to see if she’s willing to talk to the Emperor out of this.”</p><p>Eda huffed. “fat chance. She would rather see me rot as a stone statue then to admit her wrongs.”</p><p>Julia shook her head. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Seeing Eda’s confused look, she continued. “in the years that I have been in the coven, I’ve heard stories about Miss Lilith. All of them about her unrelenting determination to get you. and sure, that sounds bad, but I once heard her mumble in her office that she only wanted the best for you.” she laid her hands on the bars. “being an older sister myself, I can see that she loves you with all her heart and would do anything for you.”</p><p>Eda looked at the women with wide eyes. <em>‘did Lily actually care about me that much?’</em></p><p>But then footsteps could be heard approaching. The next patrol. Leo and Julia quickly put their masks back on. “We can’t stay longer. And sorry that we can’t help you.”</p><p>The Owl Lady let out a soft laugh. “oh, you two have done more for me then most people in the last few days. Let’s just say that I don’t really have anyone to talk to, let stand that they have sympathy for me.”</p><p>As the guards were walking away, the elder women called out. “wait, hold up.” The two stopped and turned back towards her.</p><p>“Can you two maybe do something for me?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Silence surrounded her as Eda sat in her cell, alone once again. It had been nice to talk to someone. And those two were definitely not bad people, nothing like the others of the emotionless coven.</p><p>It has been a few hours now, and the sun had gone down fully. Candles had been magical lit to illuminate the place, but even that didn’t do all that much.</p><p>She had been patiently waiting, wanting to see if the kids had actually pushed through with her request.</p><p>She got her answer quick enough as a voice suddenly spoke up.</p><p>“you asked to see me?”</p><p>Eda jumped in surprise. As she regained her breath, she turned towards the person standing in front of her cell. “No hello or How are you doing? Rude.”</p><p>The man frowned. “I’m not here to make jokes. You wanted to talk to me about something important.”</p><p>“sheesh, straight to business. No wonder you don’t have any friends.”</p><p>“I don’t need friends. I have subjects and that’s enough.”</p><p>Eda rolled her eyes. “yeah, sure Belos. Keep telling yourself that and it may become true.”</p><p>The Emperor frowned. “are we going to get to busines or are you just going to waste my time? Because then I can just get back to actually important things.”</p><p>The wild witch stood up and walked towards the bars. “Oh, you are not going anywhere until I have the answers I want.”</p><p>The masked man cocked his head slightly. “and what might those be?”</p><p>“I want to know, what you did to my girl.” She commanded.</p><p>“your girl? Oh, you mean the human.” Even though he wore a mask, the women could practically feel him smirk. “Why the interest?”</p><p>Eda gripped the iron bars tightly in her fists, her knuckles turning white. “you know <em>exactly </em>why, you bug-faced moron!” she growled. “You did something to her that turned her against me! You changed her into something she isn’t!”</p><p>The Emperor chuckled. “and what makes you say that?” as the Owl Lady gave him a confused look, he continued. “Who says that this isn’t her?”</p><p>The women snarled. “Because she is a good person with a golden heart! She’s honest and a ball of joy! Nothing like the thing that you made her!”</p><p>“Oh, but I didn’t do anything.” The Emperor answered. “all I did was give a tiny nudge. The rest followed with my influence.”</p><p>She huffed. “Like I should believe anything you say. Then how would you explain her acting like this if you ‘Just gave her a little nudge’” she said while making air quotes.</p><p>Eda could feel him grin. He turned away from her and spoke. “well, you see Owl Lady, everyone has a side to them which they don’t express much. Some of them see it as weakness, and some see them as unnecessary. But your former student, she was scared of it.” he then turned back towards the women.</p><p>“Scared and afraid of the things that could happen when she would let it out, let it control her. so she hid it away for probably most of her life.” He leaned forward, bringing himself to eye level with his prisoner. “It had been building and building all the while, growing stronger. And when she arrived in my throne room, I could sense it.</p><p>Then I handed her an outlet. And outlet she could use to let go.” he then spoke in a softer voice. “You know how that feels, don’t you? Seeing your reaction towards Lilith on the bridge. You let yourself go and it guided your actions, and almost killed your own blood in the process.” He shook his head. “and that while she put so much effort into getting you healed.”</p><p>The women growled again. “shut up. And if you think that I’m willing to believe that all you did was give her some kind of a therapy session or something, then you’re wrong!”</p><p>Belos was unfazed. “all I did was give her the handles of the cart, now she decides were to go. But it’s not like that will matter to you after tomorrow. Then it will all be over.” He then turned and walked away. “I better leave you be. As you better get a good nights sleep, because it will be your last.”</p><p>As Eda heard the doors close behind the man, she walked back towards her bed and sat down. <em>‘that absolute psycho, who does he think he is?!’ </em>she grabbed the plank that was her bed.<em> ‘Walking around, forcing people to do his biding while he had a stick so far up that it has the be surgically removed.’ </em>she glared at the place that Belos had stood just a few seconds before. <em>what even is his problem!?’ </em>she subconsciously tightened her grip on the bed.</p><p>She was snapped out of her raging thoughts, as a slight creaking could be heard. it come form her hand and as she let go, she saw an imprint of her hand in the wood. As she raised it up, she saw that more feathers had sprouted form her wrist and her nails had gotten longer again.</p><p>she sighed as she pulled up her legs and hugged them close to her chest. <em>‘I need to calm down. Heavy emotions will only make it worse.’</em> She looked at the wall next to her. <em>‘It can’t be actually possible that Luz…’ </em>she shook her head. <em>‘Nah, if she was upset with anything she would tell others. She would tell me.’</em></p><p>
  <em>‘right?’</em>
</p><p>She spent another hour awake, lost in her thoughts, until the need to rest finally overtook her.</p><p> </p><p>
  
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey Everyone.<br/>Chapter 3 of the story and it has already has over 500 hits, which is amazing on its own.<br/>to not even mention the overal attention that it has gotten so far. its just incredible to see all of your reactions.</p><p>AND you probably noticed the amazing artwork. that was done by DoggoFroggouwu. It looks absolutely awesome and lets just say that when she said that she had made artwork for this story, I was ecstatic!<br/>Just..... wow.<br/>thank you for this, so much!</p><p>I hope you guys enjoyed it,<br/>and I hope to see all of you next chapter.<br/>Gr Elementalwriter</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Your Fault!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope You Enjoy. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>The sun had risen over the horizon covered the castle in its light. Coven members were already walking around, having the early morning patrol duty or their were just getting ready for their day.</p><p>And while most of the palace was awake, Luz was still asleep. The girl had curled herself up in her blankets, finding it a cozy position. She smiled as she dreamed of Azura and herself. Going on adventures with her friends.</p><p>But her peaceful slumber got interrupted as the curtains were moved aside and sunlight streamed into the room.</p><p>The human groaned as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get used to the light. “what in the-?” as her eyes had adjusted, she saw a small red demon standing by the window. “Kikimora?”</p><p>She has slightly gotten to know the red demoness over the last few days. A day after her arrival, Belos had given the women the task to help Luz when needed. And even though Kikimora wasn’t very fond of her, and the human felt likewise towards her, the demon still tried to do her best.</p><p>“Wake up Miss Luz.” The red demon said.</p><p>“uuuugh. Whyyyyy?” Luz groaned. It was way to early for this.</p><p>Kikimora rolled her eyes. “Because you have a visit scheduled with the Owl Lady. And you don’t want to be late as she will be brought away in about an hour.” She pointed out. “So you better hurry before it’s too late.”</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened and she jumped out of bed. “Oh shoot! You’re right!” she quickly rushed towards her closet and grabbed her uniform.</p><p>Feeling eyes on her, she turned around and saw Kikimora looking at her. “uhm, can I get some privacy?” she called out.</p><p>The demon’s eyes widened slightly at the realization. “O-Oh, uhm, I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered as she turned away.</p><p>The brunette cocked an eyebrow. Seems like the women <em>was </em>actually able to feel emotions. Throughout the last days, Kikimora barely even showed that she was even capable of having emotions and had kind off acted like a robot, only showing annoyance, disappointment and frustration.</p><p>Seems like she wasn’t as pre-programmed as Luz had thought.</p><p>She then shook her head and quicky got out of her PJ’s. and a minute later, she was dressed in her outfit. She looked over at the demoness and saw that she was still turned away. “hey, you can look now.”</p><p>Kikimora immediately turned back towards her. she had apparently taken the time to calm down, as she had her emotionless expression back on. “Good. Shall we?” she said as she went to the door and opened it.</p><p>Not even hesitating for a moment, Luz nodded and walked after the small demon.</p><p>After Luz locked her door, the two set of.</p><p>They mostly walked in silence as silence, not really have anything to say to the other, all you could hear were their footsteps.</p><p>A multitude of guards past them, most of them muttering to each other as they saw her walk around. And with Kikimora, Belos’s right hand, at her side as well.</p><p>Luz really didn’t care, as she had expected this. But Kikimora was confused. “why are they all looking at you like that?” she asked skeptically. The brunette waved it off.</p><p>“that happens when you not only wear a different costume, are younger and called out to be connected to the Emperor, but also beat up about a dozen of them in an hour.”</p><p>The red women frowned. “when did <em>that</em> happen?”</p><p>“yesterday.” Luz replied calmly. Kikimora groaned in annoyance.</p><p>“you do know that you’re supposed to lay low, right?” she commented. “Nobody is supposed to know that you’re connected to him in any way, until he himself announces it.”</p><p>Luz looked at her. “wait, that was a thing?”</p><p>“yes!” the tiny demon called out as she threw up her arms.</p><p>“Oh, oops.”</p><p>Kikimora groaned again. “just, don’t do anything like that again. We don’t want it getting out already.”</p><p>“roger that.” The human said.</p><p>The two continued on their way, until Luz spoke.</p><p>“you do know that she won’t believe it, right?” the demon turned towards the human next to her. “I mean, if I know Eda well enough, and I probably do, then she’ll fight the truth with tooth and nail.”</p><p>Kikimora raised an eyebrow. “why do you can about that, exactly?”</p><p>“well, it may sound kind of harsh, but-“ she looked at a big tapestry on the wall as they walked by it. “I want her to know that it’s me doing this, and not some mind-controlled zombie or something.” She frowned underneath her mask. “I want her to know that she’s part of the reason of why I’m here.”</p><p>Luz expected Kikimora to scoff and to say that it’s idiotic. But instead,</p><p>“It seems logical.” The demoness responded with a small shrug. “You just want to let her know that if she had done better, you might have stayed with her. It a mental kind of revenge, so to speak.”</p><p>The human looked at her, concerned. “why does it sound so much worse when <em>you</em> say it?”</p><p>“don’t know.” the red women replied honestly. “But you were talking about a plan of some sorts?”</p><p>The teen nodded. “yeah, something so that she actually realizes it’s me acting on my own choices.” Kikimora nodded in understanding.</p><p>“I might know something that does could help get the point across.”</p><p>Luz looked at her, interested. “what is it?”</p><p>The demoness explained what she had in mind, also saying that it couldn’t be faked. After hearing it, Luz quickly agreed.</p><p>The two continued on their way for a little longer, but it wasn’t spend in silence as Luz asked some questions about the tapestries and paintings, which Kikimora answered to the best of her abilities.</p><p>And before they knew it, they had reached the massive iron doors leading to the dungeons. Luz walked up to the doors and held one open for Kikimora. “after you, M’lady.” She said jokingly as she gave a mock bow. Kikimora just rolled her eyes.</p><p>Together, they walked into the deep, dark, cold dungeon.</p><p> </p><p>Eda groaned as she got up. “ugh, that was one of the worst nights ever.” She blinked, and noticed something of. “this is not the dungeons.”</p><p>She looked around, she was surrounded by what seemed to be an endless black abys. “Hello?” she called out. “Is anyone there?” her voice echoed of in the distance.</p><p> No response.</p><p>“where am I?” she asked herself out loud as she sat down. “what is this place?”</p><p>Then, footsteps could be heard in the distance. She looked up, and saw none other then her sister standing there.</p><p>“Lilith?” she said. “what are you doing here? where is ‘here’?”</p><p>She didn’t respond.</p><p>“Hey! I asked ya something! Can you at least answer!?” still nothing. “Okay. You’re really starting to piss me off.” Eda said as she stood up. “I might as well talk to a wall apparently!” she huffed as she looked away. “Sometimes I wonder if things would even chance if you just suddenly dropped dead and-“</p><p>She was interrupted by a loud thump. As she looked towards the source, she saw that her sister had collapsed and was laying on her back, not moving. “Lilith?”</p><p>She started to worry. “Lily? Everything okay?” she was about to move towards her sister, when a languid puddle started to from underneath the black haired witch.</p><p>A red puddle, which was steadily growing.</p><p>“Lilith!” Eda called out in panic as she rushed over. She kneeled by her sisters dying body. “Nonononono wait! I didn’t mean it! Please don’t leave me!” she said as she grabbed the bleeding witch. she put her head on the witch’s chest.</p><p>No heartbeat.</p><p>Tears started to gather in her eyes. “Lily, no.” she whispered as she cradled her sister’s body to her chest. “who did this to you? If only I-“ she became silent as she looked at her sisters face.</p><p>Her eyes were wide open in fear and terror, and were looking at her.</p><p>Eda backed up. “What is-?” she then noticed that the eyes weren’t fully focused on her. instead, they looked just past her. she followed her gaze and turned around. Her breath stuttered.</p><p>Behind her, the area had changed. Now it displayed a purple forest and the end of a long stone bridge. But that’s not all, as the most noticeable thing:</p><p>Was herself</p><p>Her copy was standing a few meters away. But in comparison to Eda, she looked disheveled, her hair a mess and her dress was partly ripped. Feathers had also grown out of her arms and legs, partly covering her. but that wasn’t even the worst, as she had a maniacal grin on her face with her eyes crazy. Or at least one of her eyes, as the other one was pitch black. She panted as she let out small laughs. Magic residue was floating around her as she held her staff in her hands.</p><p>As she turned back towards her limp sister, she saw that she was gone and that everything around her had changed.</p><p>Now she was standing in a torchlit room, barely able to see anything. She looked around.</p><p>Nothing really stood out at first, but then she saw a hint of movement from the side of her vision.</p><p>It looked like, a person.</p><p>A child, to be exact. And from the sound coming from it, they seemed to be crying.</p><p>“Hey. Are you alright kid?” no response. “Kid?”</p><p>But instead of getting a response, the child started shaking.</p><p>Eda looked at them in worry. “Don’t be afraid of me. I’m not a danger to you.” she carefully walked towards them.</p><p>It seemed like the closer she got, the harder the kid started to shake.</p><p>“Everything is okay. No need to cry.” But it still didn’t help, as they shook even more. And unnoticed to Eda, a weird hissing sound started to enter her voice every time she spoke.</p><p>As the women got closer, she was able to see some of the features of the poor soul.</p><p>They seemed to be wearing a Hexside uniform, but she couldn’t see what track. She was also saw that they had bright orange hair. It also seemed to be a girl in her teens.</p><p>To Eda, she looked familiar. Like she had seen the kid before.</p><p>When she was just a few meters away, she was able to see the yellow sleeves and leggings. Indicating that they were in the potion track.</p><p>Knowing this, the kid seemed even more familiar to her. and she got the feeling that she is <em>supposed </em>to know her.</p><p>The girl was practically sobbing as Eda stood right behind her. she had curled herself in a ball, making it impossible for the elder witch to see her face.</p><p>“hey, hey, hey.” The women tried to calm her down. “I’m trying to help you.” she however didn’t notice that instead of her normal voice, she spoke with hisses and growls. “so if you could just turn around, then-“ she laid her hand on the girls shoulder.</p><p>The teen’s head shot up.</p><p>Eda took a step back.</p><p>She was looking at herself. Her younger self from before she was cursed.</p><p>“stay away from me.” She muttered with tears in her eyes. she crawled away, but her eyes never leaving Eda. “Please, don’t hurt me.”</p><p>The older one’s eyes widened. “Hurt you? Why would I hurt you?” she took a step forward. But that was the wrong move as her younger self tried to move away from her even faster.</p><p>“No, stay away!” she called out.</p><p>‘<em>what is she so afraid of? Why me?’</em> Eda thought. But she got her answer as she stuck out her hand to try to stop her from fleeing.</p><p>It was a predator’s claw.</p><p>Her eyes widened as she looked down and saw that her entire body had changed into the thing she feared the most.</p><p>The Owl Beast.</p><p>She looked back towards her orange haired self, who was still trembling. Out of instinct, Eda reached out to her.</p><p>But that wasn’t the right thing to do, as young Eda let out one last scream. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”</p><p>The women blinked. Her surroundings had changed once again.</p><p>But this time, she was in a room she recognized, even after only being here once.</p><p>The Emperor’s throne room.</p><p>“Isn’t it disappointing?”</p><p>She turned around, and there he was. The person she despised the most on the entire Isles. “Belos.” She growled.</p><p>“the oh so powerful Owl Lady. Reduced to nothing more then a powerless old women.” The masked man said as he walked past her. “I had honestly expected more of you.”</p><p>“with you’re reputation, you would think that you wouldn’t be such a disappointment.”</p><p>“Hey!” the women called out. “I can kick you butt any day of the week.”</p><p>Belos let out a single laugh as he sat down on his throne. “I highly doubt that, seeing that you barely beat you sister. but that you can just sum that up in your list of failures.”</p><p>He then grabbed a chain from the darkness behind his chair.</p><p>“just like this one.” He pulled at it.</p><p>Eda’s eyes widened as from the shadows stepped Luz. She was bound in chains, and had tears streaming down her face, her eyes big in fear. “Edaaa!” she cried out.</p><p>“Kid!” the witch wanted to run towards her student, but was unable to move her legs. And as she looked down, she saw that her legs were being turned to stone and it was slowly creeping up her body. She glared at the Emperor. “let her go!” she shouted.</p><p>“and why would I do that?” was his response. “Why would I send her back to someone who doesn’t deserve her?” he said as put his hand under the poor human’s chin, like she was some kind of pet.</p><p>“what do you mean?!” Eda shouted, anger boiling over in her. ‘<em>how dare he touch Luz like that! I swear that when I get my hands on him, I’ll rip him to pieces!’ </em>But that would be a thought for later, as she felt the stone creeping up her body. It had already covered up most of her torso.</p><p>“what I mean is that she deserves better then you and your Owl Shack. She doesn’t deserve to live with a wanted criminal like you.” Belos spoke as he turned back towards the slowly petrifying witch. “It’s an honest shame that she would go to waste like that.”</p><p>“But why would I tell you that?” he said. “while she can say so herself.”</p><p>He then put his hand over Luz’s face, making her cry out in fear. This stayed for a few seconds, until the brunette’s cries stopped. Her posture straightened and she had gone completely silent.</p><p>As he removed his hand, Eda was able to see her kid’s face.</p><p>It was completely stoic, emotionless.</p><p>“Luz?” she called out. The human shook her head, like she snapped out of some trance. The women looked hopefully at her student. But all she got back was a smirk.</p><p>Eda felt hope leaving her body, and her body language showed it as Luz reacted.</p><p>“Oh, don’t be like that Eda. It’s not like it’s completely unexpected.” she said as she walked down the stairs, still having that dark grin on her face.</p><p>“I mean, did you really expect me to, oh I don’t know, stay with you while I have better chances with others? Newsflash Owl Lady, I would leave you behind in a heartbeat.”</p><p>“you said you were going to teach me on being a witch, and look how that went. Everything I know, I learned by myself. I didn’t even need you.”</p><p>the next words that the human said brought such cold to the witch’s heart, that she didn’t know what was colder. The stone around her body, or her heart.</p><p>“You’re useless to me. Absolutely nothing.” She smiled as she got closer.</p><p>Eda’s body was almost completely turned. The only bit remaining was her head.</p><p>“But now? I found a place were I can become who I’m supposed to be. And not your lapdog.” She looked Eda in the eyes with a dark look as the last bits of her face were being covered.</p><p>“good riddance, Owl Lady. remember, this is <em>your</em> fault.”</p><p>Eda let out a scream as she shot up from her bed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As Luz and Kikimora walked through the dungeons, they heard the scream of fright and terror. They looked at each other.</p><p>“Sounds like someone is awake.” Luz said. Kikimora nodded.</p><p>“sounds like it. But this isn’t to uncommon, as prisoners are known to lose their sanity here.”</p><p>The human whistled. “that’s really harsh.”</p><p>The demoness huffed. “It’s what they get for their betrayal.”</p><p>It didn’t take the two long to reach the Owl Lady’s cell.</p><p>She sat there, disheveled and panting. Her eyes were wide and a frightened look on her face. She looked different from the last time that Luz had seen her. her nails were longer, as well as her ears. she also had way more feathers covering her body. And one of her eyes was turning darker. As the human saw her like that, miserable and sad, the light weird feeling at the back of her mind returned, the same as the one of yesterday. But it was practically unnoticeable.</p><p>“You’re awake.” The red demoness said, making Eda look up. “Good, that makes it easier for us.”</p><p>The witch growled. “what do you want from me?” she was not all to happy to see her captors. Couldn’t they just leave her be?!</p><p>“oh you misunderstand.” Kikimora spoke with a small shake of her head. “I don’t want anything from you. I would rather stay away from you as much as possible.” She stepped to the side, letting Luz come forth. “No, someone wanted to say goodbye to you for the last time.”</p><p>Eda gave the human a once over. But due to her mask and outfit, she was unable to see that it was the human she held close to her heart. She snorted. “Never seen them in my life.”</p><p>Luz gasped in mock shock, knowing fully well that her outfit made her unrecognizable. “You haven’t seen me for barely a week, and you already forgot about me? Do I really mean that much to you?”</p><p>The older women huffed. “If you would take of your mask, then I might be able to know who you are. Even though the chance is low.”</p><p>Luz chuckled. “Oh, I highly doubt that.” She said as she grabbed her mask and slowly took it off.</p><p>With her face fully exposed, Eda’s eyes widened. “Luz?”</p><p>“There you go. I was starting to get worried.”</p><p>The wild witch was speechless. “Kid, but why?”</p><p>“as you can see, your student has seen the light of Belos and has chosen to fight for our cause.” Kikimora butted in, which made Eda throw a glare her way.</p><p>“I don’t remember asking you anything pipsqueak.” She snarled.</p><p>“But she is right, you know.” this made the witch look back at the human. “Belos showed me a better way. Better then anything you had to show me.” But it was obvious that the women didn’t believe that for a second.</p><p>“And I’m just supposed to believe that?” she argued. “Belos may have denied it, but I thrust that guy as far as that I can throw him. A person doesn’t just go through an entire personality chance in a few hours.”</p><p>“Eda.”</p><p>“It must be some kind of mind-control spell or something. Or-or some kind of magical artifact which when touched, swaps your entire character.”</p><p>“Eda!”</p><p>“Or you used some kind of torture on her! Is that it?! did you torture my kid until she submitted to Belos his twisted will!?”</p><p>“EDA!”</p><p>The women looked at her former student, who calmed down after her shout. She then calmly spoke,</p><p>“It might be hard for you to believe, but I’m doing this out of complete free will.” Eda’s eyes widened again.</p><p>“But-but-I-“ the stubborn witch shook her head, still unwilling to believe it. “No, I still don’t believe it. My Luz would never do something like this.” She then glared towards Kikimora, who just stood of to the side, not saying anything. “You’re just making her say this!”</p><p>The human sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.” She then looked straight at her former teacher. “why is this so hard to for you, to see that I have chosen to go with the Emperor?!”</p><p>Eda snorted. “I need proof. Proof that you’ve actually left me on your own.”</p><p>Luz didn’t respond for a few seconds, until she turned towards her companion. “Kikimora?” the small demoness turned to look at her. “Do you remember the plan?” she gave a quick nod. “Do it.”</p><p>Kikimora then drew a spell circle with her finger, which gave of a pale green glow. When she was finished, the circle flew up above Luz’s head. Then it descended downwards, moving around her body. When it reached the floor, it paused for a moment and then went back up, but at a slightly faster pace.</p><p>The moment it reached its original position again, it stayed there. Hanging over the human’s head like some sort of green halo. “It done.” The demoness said.</p><p>Luz gave a quick nod and turned back towards her former mentor. “Ask me.”</p><p>Eda looked at her, confused. “what?” she didn’t understand what the kid wanted from her.</p><p>“ask me about me and my decision.” She then pointed towards the pale ring. “you probably know what this is, but I’ll explain it just in case.</p><p>This is a truth spell, or it’s more a truth detector spell to be honest. When I talk and I tell a lie, it starts to glow a bright red. And as you can probably guess, when I tell the truth it glows bright green.”</p><p>“the spell or it’s results also <em>can’t </em>be faked.” Kikimora pointed out. “so even if we wanted to, we couldn’t.”</p><p>Eda huffed. “yeah, I know that. You red dwarf.” She then turned back towards Luz. “But if you really want to do this, fine.” After a deep breath, she asked: “Did you join the Emperor by your own choice? Are you doing this from free will?”</p><p>“Yes and Yes.” Luz immediately answered.</p><p>And to Eda’s horror, the circle glowed green twice.</p><p>She was practically speechless. “B-B-But-“ she stuttered. “But why?”</p><p>Luz sighed. “I’ll be honest with you, it was a hard decision to make in the beginning. I didn’t know if I could actually trust him. But when he had explained the situation and after I had compared the two choices: staying with you or joining him. the choice was obvious.”</p><p>The older women was confused. “But why would you choose him over me?! I gave you a place to live, a place you could call home, when you most needed it!”</p><p>Luz scoffed. “Okay, yeah. I’ll give you that one. You indeed gave me a home when I arrived here. But I don’t know if that was any better then living in the woods!” she practically snarled. “Oh don’t worry, you’re not the only reason for my actions, but you are a big factor at the moment. So let’s sum up everything, shall we?</p><p>An obnoxious, but adorable room mate with a superiority complex. A house demon which can just pop in on you whenever he wants and has no respect for privacy. To not even mention the voice which could make your ears bleed if you listened to him for to long!”</p><p>She huffed. “But you want to know the worst thing?”</p><p>Luz continued without a response. “the absolute worst thing, were you!” Eda winched. “yeah, that must hurt, but it’s the truth! I mean, I literally had to live with a women who was practically a ticking timebomb! One moment you’re yourself. The next, an apex predator trying to eat me!</p><p>I could barely sleep at some points, because I was scared that you would turn in the middle of the night and that you would devour me!” The human shouted. “and to not even mention that you made a promise which you didn’t even keep!”</p><p>Luz had started shouting at this point. She was sick of keeping it all hidden inside. “You promised me that you would teach me on how to become a witch! and look how that went!</p><p>My light spell I figured out without your help. Wanna know why? It’s simple, you were too busy trying to eat me and King!</p><p>You helped a little bit with my ice spell, but also wasted my time! And even then you barely did anything! I was still the one to figure it out!</p><p>The plant spell? Completely on my own! Same with the fire spell! Heck! The biggest bully of the school was more of a help then you were with figuring that one out!” Luz subconsciously stepped slightly closer to the bars. “Most of what you thought me was how to steal and lie!”</p><p>She glared towards the shocked women. Even Kikimora stood wide eyed at the human’s reaction. She had expected something, but not <em>this</em>.</p><p>The human continued with her onslaught. “If I wanted to learn <em>that</em>, I would have gone to some random thief on the street.” She huffed. “But no. I trusted you with making me a witch. sure, that may seem like a hard task to do, but you barely tried! I made more progress on Hexside in a few days than with you in all of the weeks before!”</p><p>She frowned. “And while we’re talking about Hexside, I might as well mention that if you had send me there in the beginning, I would’ve been way further then I am right now. But noooo, you and your reputation were apparently more important. the only reason why you set aside your pride and hate for school, was because you were out of ideas and you didn’t know what to do.” She turned away from her in disgust. “you just made me someone else’s problem.”</p><p>That made the witch shake her head. “No I did not. I send you there because I knew that you would be happy there, you would also be able to learn more then I would be able to grand you. And it was one of your dreams to go to a actual witch school.</p><p>And the thing with your magic training, I gotta admit that I haven’t been the best teacher. But I tried my best. And it didn’t make it easier that you had to learn through an ancient type which hadn’t been used or even seen in years.</p><p>But I still didn’t give up on you. I kept hope, and look what you were able to achieve.” Eda gave a small smile. “I’ve never been this proud of someone.”</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened. <em>‘could she actually.. mean that?’ </em> she thought as the feeling in her mind returned. <em>‘Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.</em> <em>Maybe I can talk to the Emperor, and he’ll grand her a second chance.’</em></p><p>But before either of them could say anything, Kikimora jumped in. “That may be, but she made her choice. She felt that she shouldn’t be around you anymore, and so she chose the Emperor.” She said like it was clear as day.</p><p>The women growled. “You keep yourself out of this!” she said as she grabbed the bars. “nobody asked you about you’re opinion!”</p><p>The red demoness scoffed. “well someone has to tell you the truth, as it’s obviously not able to be processed through your thick skull.” This only managed to piss the Owl Lady off even more.</p><p>“Uhm, Kikimora?” Luz said as she saw the captured witch’s hands tighten around the bars, showing her talon like nails. “maybe it’s not a good idea to provoke the angry witch even further.”</p><p>The demon responded with: “what do you mean? It’s not like she can do anything. She’s powerless at the moment.”</p><p>“I’ll personally make you eat those words!” Eda shouted.</p><p>Unbeknownst to both witches, Eda’s extreme emotions caused her curse to grow further and fast. Causing more feathers to grow over her body, as well as longer and sharper nails and teeth. Her knees were also starting to change, becoming something more preferable for something what walks on all fours.</p><p>“Uhm, guys?” she spoke. But neither heard her, as they were having a heated verbal battle with each other.</p><p>“You think you’re a big deal, huh?!” Eda exclaimed, pissed of at the little demon before her. ‘Oh look at me! I’m the little personal slave of a complete blowhard. I’m soooo important.’” she said with a winy voice. “pathetic!” she spat.</p><p>“well at least I’m not trapped inside of a cage like you!” Kikimora retorted back.</p><p>“I’d rather be trapped in here then be Belos’s lackey! He’s nuts that he can think that magic can be restrained! Absolutely mental!”</p><p>Kikimora snarled. No one insulted her Emperor like that. “He’s the savior of the Isles, and everyone is happy under his rule. That he does live up to your absurd expectations is your problem! He knows what’s best for the Isles, and you obviously don’t!”</p><p>“More like what’s best for himself! He just wants to control people, that’s why he created that stupid coven system . Not because of some good willed effort!”</p><p>“don’t you realize that because of that ‘stupid coven system’ less people have died in the last fifty years or so, then in the last three years before his rule!? And that just by stopping wild witches like you!”</p><p>The longer the two shouted at each other, the angrier they got. And the angrier Eda got, the less control she had over herself. Her limbs had grown  slightly longer as her nails were full on talons now. Instead of witch teeth, she now had teeth worthy of a fully grown predator. And last but not least, the one eye which had already been blackened to some degree, was now a black abys.</p><p>Seeing were this was going and what would happen if she didn’t do something, Luz tried to defuse the situation. “okay you two. You both need to calm down before either of you does something you’ll regret.” She calmly spoke. “now, how about we all-“</p><p>“YOU DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” the partly transformed women shouted as she swung her arm at Luz. The human tried to dodge it, but one of the talons slashed her face, creating a large cut across her face.</p><p>The brunette recoiled with a shout of shock and pain, falling on her butt in the process. “AAAAH!” she put her hands over her face and could feel the blood coming out of the wound.</p><p>“Miss Luz!” Kikimora called out in shock as she rushed towards the human. “are you okay?”</p><p>Seeing what was going on, Eda returned to her senses. “what, what happe-“ she then saw the blood on her talons and the brunette covering her face. “LUZ!” she shouted. “are you o-“</p><p>“Be silent you!” Kikimora shouted. “I don’t want a to hear a single word from you, understood!?” she kneeled next to wounded human. “Miss Luz, please remove your hands so I can see the wound.”</p><p>After a few seconds of hesitation, Luz did what she was told. The red demoness let out a small hiss as she saw the damage. “we’re going to have that checked out by the medics.” She said as she helped her back on her feet. “we should go.”</p><p>“Hey!” Eda shouted, her Owl Beast instincts kicking in, telling her to protect Luz. “You let go of her!”</p><p>Kikimora glared back at her. “Silence, you beast! I shall tell this to the Emperor and you will spend your last hours of life in pain! I will personally make sure of-” she then felt a hand on her shoulder, cutting her off. she looked at the wounded human.</p><p>“Kikimora, let me.” Luz said in a calm voice. The demoness hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and stepped aside. Having free way, the human stepped forward and look her former teacher in the eyes.</p><p>The Owl Lady gasped as she saw Luz’s wound.</p><p>The slash wound she had created went from the top of her left brow, to the bottom of her right cheek. It looked quite deep and was bleeding heavily. that was definitely going to leave a scar. The women tried to grasp at words and could barely get anything out of her mouth. “L-Luz, I..I’m…I’m so s-sorry. I didn’t m-mean to-“</p><p>“save your apologies.” The human spoke with a glare. “I thought that you would be able to change, that you deserved a second chance. That I was wrong about you. that you would be willing to put your pride aside for me.” She scoffed. “Turns out you’re just as much of a danger as I thought you were.” The witch paled at hearing those words from her student. “saying you care about me and then shout towards the person who tries to help me after <em>you</em> slashed me.” She turned away from the prisoner. “some people are just not willing to change, are they?”</p><p>“But, Kid, I-“</p><p>“Spend your next few hours wisely. Because they’re your last.” Luz spoke coldly as she put her mask back on. She then turned towards Kikimora. “Let’s get out of here.”</p><p>As the two walked of, the teen called out one last thing:</p><p>“See you at the petrification, Owl Lady.”</p><p>As Eda heard the doors of her section of the dungeons close, she collapsed on her knees. Tears streaming down her face, her hands (paws?) gripping the iron bars of her cell.</p><p>Out of agony, frustration and sadness she let out an animalistic screech.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The duo had just exited the dungeons, completely in silence. And the next few minutes were spend the same, as they walked through the halls. The other members mostly ignored them, until they started to notice the slight bits of blood seeping from underneath Luz’s mask. That definitely caused some heads to turn.</p><p>But the two didn’t pay too much attention to them and just walked further, neither saying a single word.</p><p>Until,</p><p>“Thank you, Kikimora.”</p><p>The small demon looked up at the human. “Thanks? For what?”</p><p>“For trying to help me back there. And for what you’ve done for me in the last few days as well.” Luz shrugged. “I mean, I know that it’s your whole assignment to help me and all that, but still, you showed genuine concern back there. Which means that you actually care.” She said with a small smile. “we may not like each other very much, but that doesn’t mean that we need to be enemies either.” She explained. “there is always a middle ground.”</p><p>That left the demon silent. She then spoke up. “maybe I underestimated you. You’re not as much of a fool as I thought you were.”</p><p>“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Luz said with pride. She then winked, and then realized that the demoness was not able to see it. “But believe me, you’ve seen nothing yet.” She then turned serious again. “But I’m truly thankful for the things that you’ve done for me so far. I mean it.”</p><p>Kikimora calmly replied. “It was no problem.”</p><p>Liking how this was going, Luz continued,</p><p>“Seeing that we’re going to be stuck with each other for a while,” she said. “can you maybe tell something about yourself?”</p><p>Kikimora cocked a brow. “something like what?”</p><p>“like, what exactly are you?” seeing the confused look on the demon’s face, she explained. “well, you don’t really look like any other demon around. Compared to some of them, you’re highly sophisticated. You also act way different.”</p><p>Kikimora looked at her, skeptical. “why that of all things?”</p><p>Her answer was a shrug. “just curious.”</p><p>The small women sighed as she started talking. “well, the reason of why I’m different then most, is because I’m a special kind of demon.</p><p>I’m known as a house demon. We mostly work for people with a high ranking. Some of us also life with the normal people, but most prefer the rich and powerful. We mostly just work around the clock, trying to get everything ready for our masters.”</p><p>“so I take it that Belos is your master?” Luz asked.</p><p>“pretty much. But in comparison to most households, I’m able to act on my free will. Many are forced to only work and are barely allowed to even sleep, while I, for example, can take a break if I need to.”</p><p>“huh.” The teen responded. “The Emperor doesn’t sound like a bad boss.”</p><p>The small women shook her head. “No, he’s indeed not.” After a few seconds of hesitation, she asked. “So what about you?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“It’s just that: I’ve heard some stuff about the humans that doesn’t reflect you at all.” Kikimora explained. “for example, I have heard that many humans would not be able to handle or survive in this environment. But you seem to be just doing fine.”</p><p>Luz gave a small chuckle. “yeah, doesn’t really surprise me. I was always considered ‘weird’ or ‘different’.” She then let out a sad sigh. “and they made sure of it that I knew that I didn’t truly belong.” Her hands became fists. “the bullying, the name calling, the constant flow of people staring at me like I’m some sort of freak. It hurt immensely.” She clenched her fists, turning her knuckles white.</p><p>Seeing the emotional distress the human was in, the red demoness spoke up. “Well, then it’s good you’re here then. And with the Emperor at your side, no one is going to mess with you.”</p><p>Luz smiled at that. “true.” The doors to the medics office came into view. “True.”</p><p> </p><p>Lilith sat in her room, nerves running up and down her spine.</p><p>In about a half hour, she was supposed to pick up her sister for her ceremony. And she absolutely hated it.</p><p>From the moment she had woken up, the need to just run down into the depths of the castle, and freeing her sister had been strong. And how much it pained her that she wasn’t able to just do it.</p><p>The raven-haired women took one last look in the mirror. Seeing that it was a big public event, she was obligated to wear something which showed her ranking and status. Not only was it a rule in the coven, but it was also something that her parents had taught her since she was a kid.</p><p>And while she had always respected that rule, Eda had never cared about it much. The most formal thing she would wear was a necklace and high heels or something like that.</p><p>Lilith sighed as she thought of her sister’s anticks when they were younger. Pulling pranks, ignoring superiors and not giving a single damn about the rules. typical Eda. Her younger sister would always get in something way over her head and then she had to bail her out. Either by lying, hiding the evidence or helping her escape.</p><p>Not much had changed over the years.</p><p>The only difference now was that Eda had gotten herself into major trouble and that Lilith wouldn’t be able to bail her out that easily. And now her sister would suffer the consequences of her actions.</p><p>The witch huffed at the thought. Yes, Eda wasn’t the most honest or good willing and she definitely broke some laws. But that shouldn’t result in petrification! Jailtime at the least, but not <em>that</em>!</p><p>And it was not even her fault that she had to live like that. All of it had started when Lilith had cursed her. and she knew that all too well, and she wanted a chance to redeem herself.</p><p>That was why when she heard that Amity and her friends had come with a plan, she had felt a slight bit of hope.</p><p>At first, the two others didn’t agree with the Blight’s decision to let her in on it. but after some explaining, they seemed to look at it differently and reluctantly agreed.</p><p>Together they had gone through the plan multiple times. Some changes had been made by Lilith as she knew the patrol schedule of the guards, making it way easier to plan everything out. sometimes one of the teens jumped in, telling her that certain parts wouldn’t be possible, as they either didn’t have the specific magic type needed or the materials.</p><p>But in the end, they came up with a plan which did not only sound good in theory, but could actually work.</p><p>And because it wasn’t time yet, Lilith would keep an eye out for any possible changes in the patrols and report them to the teens. Then at the actual ‘event’ she would walk around her chosen area and would jump in if the kids ever got in trouble.</p><p>The plan had sounded relatively simple. But the more the women thought about it and the closer they got to the actual moment, the harder it actually seemed to be.</p><p>But it was the only option at the moment. The only way to save Edalyn from a terrible fate. And Liltih was determind to make sure of that. <em>‘I will get you out of there Edalyn! No matter what!’</em> she thought.</p><p>She then sat down behind her desk, and went over the plan again in her head. She had to be ready when the time came.</p><p>But as they were still a few hours removed from the petrification, all the guilty sister could only hope, hope that luck was at their side. Hope, that she was able to fix her mistakes.</p><p>Hope, for her sister.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey Everyone.</p><p>Sorry if I'm a bit late, writing this chapter wasn't the easiest thing to do.<br/>but I managed to do it, eventually.<br/>And although I think that it could use some more edits and shoud reconsider some of the parts, it's good enough.</p><p>any thoughts or advice? use the comments below.<br/>Hope you enjoyed,</p><p>and as always:<br/>Hope to see you all next chapter.<br/>Gr Elementalwriter</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Last Day (Part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey Everyone.</p><p>before youstart reading the story, I would like to apologize for being a week late. this chapter wasn't all that easy to write and I had to rewrite certain parts multiple times.</p><p>'Agony Of A Writer' am I right?</p><p> </p><p>Anyway, Hope You Enjoy. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>People all around Bonesborough had woken up by now. All of them wanting to pay their last respects to the famous Owl Lady. Even though she had caused a huge load of problems for the town over the years, they weren’t just going to let her go, without an honorable goodbye. And for the ones who wanted to see her perish this was the event of the century. So a win, win situation.</p><p>But not everyone was planning on saying goodbye, as in Blight manor the youngest of the household was just finishing up the last of her preparations.</p><p>Normally, Amity would have to lay in bed until her leg was properly healed enough. But she had no time to wait, so she grabbed every single healing glyph that she could find and put them on her cast.</p><p>The girl groaned as she tried to stand on both of her legs. It still hurt slightly and felt really uncomfortable, but the glyphs would lessen the pain enough for her to be able to use it without collapsing. The only negative thing was that they only worked for a certain amount of time and when they ran out, the pain would return full force. And they wouldn’t be able to cover everything up, she still had to be somewhat careful.</p><p>She quickly shuffled over towards her bag which she had packed the day prior. Everything they needed was in it. Cloaks, masks, shielding amulets and a rolled up scroll.</p><p>the cloaks and masks were so they wouldn’t be recognized by any of the guards, because otherwise they, and their families would be in trouble. The shielding amulets were for their own protection. It would guard the wearer against most magical attacks, until it was either taken off, broken, overpowered or just empty on energy. And the scroll may be the most important thing, as that would be their way in.</p><p>the young witch let out a sigh as she hung the bag on her shoulder. In the next hour, so much would  be happening: Willow, Gus and herself would be risking themselves by breaking into one of the most guarded and feared prisons on the entire Boiling Isles. there they would try to rescue a wanted criminal from a faith feared by many. The place would be covered in guards and the chance that they would actually be able to pull it of was relatively small. And they would only have one shot at this, if they failed it would be over and done with.</p><p>But one chance was all they would need.</p><p>She and the others have gone through the plan multiple times, and then she had Lilith join in on it. the women was able to give them information which would be able to turn this impossible looking idea, into an actual possibility.</p><p>In the beginning, Gus and Willow had protested heavily against the concept of the coven leader joining them. They argued that it was a risky thing to do. That it could ruin everything. And Lilith didn’t even fight it.</p><p>But after some convincing from Amity, and after hearing the older witch’s story, they had slowly given in. They had still remained skeptical about her, and even the she herself didn’t trust Lilith fully. But for now, she would believe her old mentor.</p><p>And just in case that Lilith would try to throw everything asunder, they had a backup plan.</p><p>But for now the witch seemed to do her part, as she had already reported multiple chances in the patrol schedules, giving the teens an opportunity to alter their route.</p><p>Knowing that her parents wouldn’t want her to leave the house, as ‘seeing a Blight in her condition would ruin their image.’, she had to be really quiet. And just in case, she had managed to rope the twins into helping her. They would be covering for her.</p><p>It had been a pain in the butt trying to convince them, but in the end they had agreed. She had to do their chores for a month, but it was worth it. luckily for her, the twins were experts with sneaking out unnoticed, so they managed to put together a plan.</p><p>She quietly opened the door of her room, barely making a single sound.</p><p>The young witch looked down the hall. Not seeing a single soul, as all of the servants had their monthly day off, she stepped out of her room and tried closing the door quietly. But her door apparently didn’t want her to leave, as it let out squeaks every so often when she moved it either too slow or too fast. And at every single one of them, she briefly paused and froze, listening for any indications that her parents had heard it.</p><p>But after a little bit, it closed with a soft click. Amity let out a small sigh of relieve. At least that part was over.</p><p>Now for the next step.</p><p>She silently made her way down the hall, until she reached a certain door. Standing in front of it, she softly knocked on it.</p><p>Normally you wouldn’t be able to hear it, but it was so silent that it way as well have been an explosion to the youngest Blight.</p><p>After a few seconds, the door opened and her sister came into view. “I take it that it’s time?” she asked.</p><p>Amity rolled her eyes. “No, I’m wasting my time because I want to say hello and- Of course it’s time!” she whisper shouted. Emira snickered.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry. I’m just joking.”</p><p>“this is no time for jokes. If I get caught then I’m in major trouble!” The youngest sibling grumbled.</p><p>Emira nodded. “right, right. Golden child and all that.”</p><p>“Hey! That I follow the rules and listen to what out parents want doesn’t make me a golden child.” Amity argued. Her sister gave her a deadpanned look.</p><p>“Mittens, that is exactly what ‘golden child’ means.” She said. she then shook her head. “but never mind that.” She laid her arm across her sister’s shoulders, pulling her in for a sideways hug. “I’m just glad that you’re finally trying to break that cycle.”</p><p>Amity grunted as she pushed herself out of Emira’s grip. “I’m not trying to break anything. This is a one time thing and nothing more.” The female sibling let out a small laugh.</p><p>“yeah, sure Mittens. A ‘one time thing’.” she said while making air quotes. “that’s the same thing that Ed and I thought when we started, and look at us now.”</p><p>“I’m not like you two. In comparison, I can actually keep myself in check. This is <em>one </em>time, and none more after this.”</p><p>“Suuure Mittens. Sure.” Emira replied with a knowing grin. Seeing this, Amity groaned in annoyance.</p><p>“you and Edric are so unbearable!” she exclaimed. “do you at least have everything ready?!”</p><p>Her sister nodded as she pulled a small crystal orb from her pocket. “yep, this thing will project an illusion you in your bed. It’s practically identical, we even programmed it with all of your weird quirks.” She said teasingly.</p><p>Amity glared in response, but didn’t go into it as she knew she didn’t have much time left. “Okay, okay. Whatever. just make sure that it works as intended and that it won’t just suddenly do something that will get me in trouble later.” She pointed out sternly.</p><p>Emira gasped. “Mittens, why would you think something like that? Do you really think we’re bad people like that?”</p><p>Her younger sister gave her a deadpanned look. “Yes. Yes I do.” And as her sister wanted to argue back, she said. “Two words: Library Incident.”</p><p>Em let out a sigh of defeat. “Okay, fine. We won’t force it to do anything you wouldn’t do, alright?” Amity gave a sharp nod in skeptical agreement.</p><p>“good.” She then looked behind her sister. “But where is Edric? I thought that he would participate as well?”</p><p>The older sister huffed. “what? You thought that he would be waiting here in my room? Mittens, we may be twins, but we have boundaries.” She then pointed towards the staircase further down the hall. “Nah, Ed is distracting our parents right now.”</p><p>Amity cocked an eyebrow. “wait, but how and why? You two couldn’t have possibly known when I would put everything in motion!”</p><p>Emira snickered. “Call it sibling and troublemaker intuition.” She then started making her way to her little sister’s room as she waved Amity off. “Now get going. I don’t know how much longer Ed can keep those two distracted.”</p><p>Amity nodded. “Right.” But before she continued on her way, she turned back to her sister with a small grateful smile. “And thanks Emira. I really appreciate the help.”</p><p>Em huffed, pretending to not care. “yeah, yeah. Just get going already.” But she couldn’t hide the growing smile on her face.</p><p>As her little sister walked away, she muttered to herself. “go get them Mittens.”</p><p>As Amity reached the stairs leading to the bottom floor, she could slightly hear her parents already. It was very vague, but still hearable due to the silence surrounding the house. she took a deep breath, and started her descend.</p><p>The lower she went, the clearer the voices got and as she was about half way, she was able to hear her brothers voice as well.</p><p>“So Father,” Ed said. “why is this whole petrification thing such a big deal right now?”</p><p>“because son, this is the first petrification performed in public in years.” Alador responded. “to not even talk about that its the famous Owl Lady who will be turned. Truly a massive event.”</p><p>“Indeed dear.” Odalia agreed. “Bonesborough will finally be rid of her and her antics.”</p><p>Amity practically gagged at the tone in her parents voices. They were full of pride and innocence. ‘<em>they may talk bad about Miss Eda, but they defiantly aren’t any better then her. worse even.’</em> She thought.</p><p>“But then, if this is such a big deal, then why are you not there?” her brother asked. “I mean, as leader of the abomination coven wouldn’t that be expected of you?”</p><p>Amity heard her father scoff. “as that may be true, I will not be attending. I want to stay as far away as possible from that criminal as possible.” He reasoned. “besides, I can do better stuff then that, like watching paint dry or something like that.”</p><p>As the three continued talking in the kitchen, Amity walked further down the stairs. And as she reached the bottom, she looked towards the room which contained her parents. Luckily for her, you didn’t have a direct view into the living room from the kitchen and she should be able to get to the front door without to much issue.</p><p>As she was shuffling her way across the room, she heard her father again.</p><p>“Oh, and Odalia, dear.” He spoke. “did you know that there is this rumor going around that the witch had some kind of apprentice? Just a bunch of nonsense if you ask me.”</p><p>“Really?” she responded. “well they can’t be anything good then, seeing who their teacher was.” She said with a laugh.</p><p>When the words had left her mouth, Amity heard them loud and clear, making her look in their direction with a glare. <em>‘how dare they speak about her that way!’ </em>she thought as she slowly continued on her way. <em>‘I swear, if I had the chance I would jump in and tell them how wrong they are. Not that they would even listen.’</em></p><p>“You’re right about that.” Alador agreed. “but we don’t have to worry, as the Emperor has probably taken care of the thing.” He said with mirth in his voice.</p><p>That comment threw Amity off to such a degree, that she didn’t notice the small table standing in front of her with a small marble statue on it. As she bumped into it and realized her mistake she tried to grab it, but it fell of and hit the ground causing a loud thump like sound to resonate throughout the room. She froze as the people in the kitchen fell silent.</p><p>“What was that?” Odalia called out. “sounds like something fell in the living room.” Hearing footsteps, Amity quickly grabbed the statue from the ground and dived behind the couch despite her leg’s protests. As she hit the ground, the shock shot to her bad leg, causing pain to flair up. So she had to bite her lip to prevent herself from screaming in agony. And as she heard her parents and brother entering the room, she held her breath, not wanting to make a single sound.</p><p>“Nothing.” Her father said.</p><p>“But I’m sure I heard something from here.” his wife commented.</p><p>Amity could hear her walking around the room, her high heels clacking on the ground. Luckily for her the back of the couch was relatively close to the wall so she wasn’t spotted easily.</p><p>“could it maybe have been something else?” Edric tried. “Like, maybe Emira dropping something upstairs.”</p><p>“maybe.” Their mother agreed. “But I’m sure that it was something here. something here seems off to me.” Amity could hear her mother getting closer to her hiding spot, and started sweating immensely. If she was caught she would be in <em>so</em> <em>much</em> trouble.</p><p>And as she looked underneath the couch, she saw that the women was only a few steps away from her. ‘<em>it’s over.’ </em>She thought. <em>‘I’m done for.’</em></p><p>She closed her eyes as she heard her mother take another two steps and knew that her mission was over before she could even got out of the house.</p><p>Until suddenly:</p><p>“Mother, father, doesn’t this look weird to you?”</p><p>The young witch’s eyes popped open at hearing her brother.</p><p>“what does Edric?” her father asked.</p><p>“well, I mean, I’m very sure that Emira is still upstairs in her room or something and Amity is stuck in bed. So how could any sound be made here?” he reasoned. “Unless we have a spirit tormenting us. which is possible when you think about it.”</p><p>Odalia sighed. “Edric, I was in the Oracle track at Hexside. I would know if there was a spirit here.”</p><p>Hearing the voice directed away from her, the hidden Blight slightly peeked her head out from her hiding spot. There her brother stood across from her parents, both of them shooting him skeptical looks.</p><p>“Yeah. That would make sense, I guess.” He admitted. “But still, it’s possible. And don’t you need a crystal ball to be able to detect them?”</p><p>“normally yes, but the more powerful and advanced students are able to learn how to detect most kinds without it.” the women boasted.</p><p>“Indeed,” Ed argued, starting to sweat slightly. He was getting nervous as this could turn out really bad. “<em>most </em>spirits and ghosts. What if this isn’t one you learned how to notice like this? Then we could get stuck with it for who knows how long.”</p><p>A few moments of silence were the rulers in the room, as Amity held her breath once more and her brother tried to not cave in under the elder Blight’s gazes.</p><p>“fine.”</p><p>A wave of relieve flooded over the two siblings as their mother said that. “I’ll go over the house to see if your right.” She then turned towards the staircase. “But before I do that, I want to check on your siblings to make sure just in case.”</p><p>Right as she was about to walk towards it, Ed called out: “Wait, why don’t we let Emira do that? She’s upstairs already and that will spare you the time.” Odalia was about to argue that she wanted to do it herself, but he already called for his sister. “Hey Emira.”</p><p>“Yes?” came the reply.</p><p>“Can you maybe check on sister dear for us?”</p><p>“Uhm, I don’t know why, but sure.” Em responded. Faint footsteps could be heard, followed by a door opening. “Hey Mittens, you alright?” she could be heard asking upstairs.</p><p>Amity got startled as she heard her own voice responding. “Yes! Now get out of my room, I’m busy with school!”</p><p>“Okay, okay. Sheesh.” The bedroom’s door could be heard closing. “Mittens is okay.” She called out.</p><p>Alador frowned. “She sounds awfully angry. Did you do anything to her?!”</p><p>“she’s probably just grumpy because of her leg.” Em reasoned. “You know how she is.” Ed nodded in agreement.</p><p><em>‘HEY!’ </em>Amity thought as she shot a glare upstairs.</p><p>“Hey, I heard that!” the Amity copy called out. “And I’m not grumpy!”</p><p>“hmm.” Their father spoke. “seems like you have the slight chance to be right son.”</p><p>Edric frowned. “why do you have to sound so surprised at that?” he muttered.</p><p>“Can I go back to doing my thing now?” Em asked from the top of the stairs.</p><p>“Yes sis, thank you for the help.” Ed responded.</p><p>Footsteps could be heard walking off, followed by a door closing.</p><p>“Now that that’s done, we can move on with our duties.” Alador reasoned. “I’ll be in my office, if anyone needs me.” He spoke as walked off. Amity knew all too well that it actually meant: “Leave me alone and keep it quiet.” She had learned that years ago.</p><p>“Indeed. I shall look for my crystal ball to look into our predicament.” Odalia said as she then turned towards her only son. “And how about you go make yourself useful as well Edric?! That it’s weekend doesn’t mean that you can lazy around.”</p><p>“But mother…” the twin whined.</p><p>“No buts and go do something useful.” She argued, leaving no room for discussion.</p><p>“Yes mother.” He muttered as he made his way up the stairs.</p><p>The moment he disappeared from the room, Odalia did another once over of the room. Luckily Amity was able to react in time and pull her head from view. She could feel her mother’s gaze pointed at the couch, then heard a huff as footsteps could be heard retreating up the stairs.</p><p>The moment she couldn’t hear the anymore, the young witch slowly looked out from her hiding spot. No one was there. The girl let out a sigh of pure relieve as she stood up. ‘<em>that was way to close for comfort.’ </em>Amity thought to herself. ‘<em>I’ll have to thank Edric for covering for me like that.’</em></p><p>As she quickly made her way across the rest of the room, she listened closely for any sounds. It could happen that her parents could come back.</p><p>But she managed to reach the big double doors of the estate without any problems. She opened the door and stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air for a moment. It truly was a realieve after sitting locked up in your room for the last few days.</p><p>Once Amity closed the door behind her, she quickly made her way of the property, not wanting to risk sticking around and getting caught. She was a witch on a mission and had to get to the park where Willow and Gus would be waiting for her. Then together as a group, they would head off towards the Conformatorium.</p><p>‘<em>we’re coming for you Miss Eda.’ </em>The young Blight thought. ‘<em>we’ll get you out of there. And then we can all go looking for Luz.’</em> As she neared the park, nerves started to rear their heads. What if they couldn’t do it and were caught? What if Lilith ended up betraying them?</p><p>As she approached the meeting spot, she saw Willow and Gus waiting for her as they waved. She shook her head. They will be able to do this and Eda will be freed. It just had to work!</p><p>“Morning Amity.” Willow greeted.</p><p>“Morning Willow.” The Blight responded with a smile. “Morning Gus.” She said to the younger witch.</p><p>“Good morning.” He spoke with a grin. He then looked at both of his companions. “seeing that we’re complete, are you two ready?”</p><p>Willow nodded as Amity responded. “I’m ready. Nervous, but ready.”</p><p>And with all three of them ready, they started making their way to the Conformatorium.</p><p>All they could do was follow the plan, let everything play it’s course and hope for the best.</p><p> </p><p>At the famous prison itself, a podium had been set up, giving the people a good view of the process.  A big crowd had started to gather. Which wasn’t all that weird, seeing that this was the first public petrification in ages. To not even mention that the one to be petrified was one of the most known witches on the entire Isles.</p><p>And in less then an hour from now, it would all go down. Then Edalyn Clawthorne would suffer for her actions.</p><p>And while the crowd grew bigger, Luz waited at the back of the building. Dressed in her coven outfit, she impatiently tapped her feet on the ground.</p><p>The star of the show had not been delivered yet.</p><p>They were already supposed to be there. But a message got send out that they had some trouble with the wagon containing the witch. Apparently they had run into a little snag with a big tree blocking the road and some defects with the car itself.</p><p>Still, that didn’t give them any reason to be this late. They had magic, they should’ve been able to fix everything and still get here relatively on time. <em>‘I swear,’ </em>the human thought. ‘<em>if they don’t get here soon, they’ll be in big trouble.’</em></p><p>A few more moments past until she heard wooden wheels ridding over gravel. And indeed, the wagon came into view. About twelve guards were escorting it, minus the driver.</p><p>“Finally!” Luz called out as she approached them. “what was the hold up that it took this long?!” she said.</p><p>One of the guards walked up to her. “ A big tree had fallen on the middle of the road, so we had to remove that first, the we had some problems regarding the wagon. Apparently someone forgot to check the wagon for any defects and we ended up with a broken wheel.” He said as he glared towards another guard. Seeing the glare, they responded.</p><p>“Hey! It’s not my fault! I checked the damn thing yesterday and it was totally fine!”</p><p>“Well apparently you didn’t do a good enough job at it!” the first guard called back. He then turned back towards Luz. “so yeah, sorry that we’re late.”</p><p>The masked human huffed. “you will be if you don’t get her in her cell and fast. You’re already late and I don’t think that you want the Emperor to think that you’re slacking off.”</p><p>The guard gulped. “No, of course not.” He then turned back towards the others. “Okay guys, Lets get her out and locked up!”</p><p>His crew nodded as they took their positions. Two stood by the doors, as four others got ready to enter the wagon. The remaining six took a stance, ready to jump in if needed.</p><p>Seeing the tension, Luz asked. “I know that she’s a powerful witch and all, but isn’t this a little over the top? Since, you know, she’s already wearing magic blocking cuffs?”</p><p>“Oh, believe me. It’s needed.” He said as he gave a nod towards the others.</p><p>As the four entered, a scuffle could be heard. sounds of grunting , protests and even slight snarling. But a few moments later when they got back out, they were dragging a heavily protesting and struggling witch with them.</p><p>Eda’s curse had taken over even more since Luz had seen her last, which was barely an hour ago. only a few spots remained uncovered and her body had started to take on the shape of the beast and she had also lost her shoes as her feet had almost fully transformed into the back paws of the owl-beast. Her fangs were almost to big for her mouth as they protruded from behind her lips and her ears had also grown, being easily twice as big. and while it was only able to be noticed with a sharp sight and when you knew where to look, her normal eye had started to gloss over, signaling her slow loss in the battle of wills.</p><p>The witch tried to resist her captors as much as possible, struggling and shouting the entire time.</p><p>“If you think that I’ll make it easy for you you’re wrong!” she said as she dug her feet into the dirt and glared at the guards ‘escorting her.’ Luckily for her, the partial transformation had given her extra strength, giving her an actually able to fight back.</p><p>She then turned towards the other guards standing of to the sides. “I will fight every single one of you every step of the way and I’ll make sure that you had all wished that you had let me go when you had the chance.” Her gaze the wandered over towards Luz. “So if any of you think that you can take me on, you can eat my-“ she then grinded to a stop as she saw her former student and froze.</p><p>The two looked at each other in silence, neither saying a single word. Meanwhile the guards had stopped trying to move her, seeing that it was practically futile.</p><p>They stayed like this as for a moment, until Luz started taking steps towards the cursed witch. and as she approached, she was able to see a small glimmer of hope in Eda’s eyes.</p><p>“Kid?” she asked, silently hoping that the human she cared about was still in there, somewhere.</p><p>But instead of helping her, the human turned back towards the guards. “get her out of here as fast as possible and into the preparation room.” She spoke. “I want her out of my sight and ready for the ceremony.” She then walked away like nothing was going on. “If you need me, I’ll be patrolling the G-sector.” She said as she threw one last glance over her shoulder. Her eyes met the eyes of her former mentor one last time.</p><p>Hearing this was the last thing to break The Owl Lady. She slumped and looked at the ground, any signs of violence or resistance had seemingly disappeared. Sadness and hurt written all over her.</p><p>Saluting, the leader spoke. “It shall be done.” He then turned back towards his men. “You heared her, get this traitor into the holding area.” His men nodded.</p><p>As they dragged the cursed witch inside, Eda didn’t even resist. She walked after them like she didn’t even care anymore. She looked at the ground as the guards escorted her away towards her own doom. When the human saw the last bit of the Owl Lady disappear from sight, she continued on her way.</p><p>As Luz walked down the halls, her mind wandered back to how her former mentor had looked when she gave the order to get rid of her. she seemed so heartbroken, so betrayed. and when she was dragged off, the life had vaporized from her eyes, no willpower to do anything anymore.</p><p>A sense of guilt snuck up on her .why was she even feeling this? Sure the women had helped her, but it’s not like she didn’t cause major mayhem wherever she went.</p><p><em>‘kind of like me.’ </em>Luz thought. She shook her head.</p><p>She shouldn’t be feeling these feelings of sympathy and guilt.</p><p>But she did, and it wouldn’t go away.</p><p>A few moments later, she had reached her position point. There she had a window with a full view of the open square. As she looked at the place where the ceremony would happen, she continued her earlier thoughts. Luz was conflicted. She was doing the right thing, right? So why did she feel so guilty?</p><p>‘<em>But she deserves this.’ </em>she told herself. ‘<em>I mean, there is a reason why she is the number one criminal. She’s dangerous and must be put to a halt. And if we don’t do it , no one will.’</em></p><p>As she leaned on the window she pulled of her mask. And as soft breeze flew past, it caused her cut to tingle. As she softly glided her fingers over the wound, she got reminded of her visit to the medics</p><p>After a quick examination, they had told her that the cut wasn’t infected and wouldn’t leave any permanent damage. It would however leave a clear scar.</p><p>They also said that she had been very lucky. If the slash had been any lower, she would have lost an eye.</p><p>Instead, she now had a line running across her face. Many would see it as a nuisance, an imperfection. But Luz wouldn’t. She planned to wear it as a reminder, a reminder that Eda was a thing that she no longer wanted to be part of her life.</p><p>She then heard footsteps approaching from behind and put on her mask, not wanting to be recognized.</p><p>But that wasn’t needed, as Lilith was the one approaching her. “Good Morning Lilith.” Luz greeted.</p><p>All she got in return was a stiff nod.</p><p>“Not even a simple ‘Hello’? Rude.” The human said teasingly. The witch didn’t like that at all as she glared at her.</p><p> “This is no time for jokes.” Lilith grumbled.</p><p>Luz nodded. “True, true. Today is the day that you’ve worked towards, after all those years of hunting her down. You must be so proud.” Without noticing it, a hint of venom had snuck into the teen’s voice.</p><p>The women stiffened up. “this isn’t something that I wanted to happen. I wanted her to live a better life, a proper one. So she didn’t have to lie and steal for a living.”</p><p>“And even thought that might be true, It’s not like that’s going to stop it.” The human said. “It’s not like she’ll be around any longer.” A small hint of sadness was present in those words, but neither noticed.</p><p>Lilith cocked an eyebrow. “And you don’t seem troubled at that at all.”</p><p>Luz shrugged. “Let’s just say that we talked and that right now I don’t really care.” As she said that, a weird tingle appeared on the back of her mind. It was there for barely a second, but she still felt it.</p><p>“Hm, why’s that?”</p><p>The human let out a dark laugh. “Oh, just some reasons.” She spoke as she took of her mask again, showing the wound to the elder witch, which made her eyes widen slightly.</p><p>“w-what happened to you?” she asked.</p><p>“Oh this? Just a little parting gift from your sister. Really polite if I say so myself.” Luz responded. “Now I will always have something to remember her by.”</p><p>Lilith was speechless for a moment. “B-bu-but I don’t understand. How did this even happen?”</p><p>“Oh, I had an appointment with her in the dungeons. And let me tell you, she didn’t look all that great. Your curse was really getting to her.” The human explained. “Kikimora was with me so she can confirm what happened, but let’s just say that your sister way have gotten pissed at Kiki and when I tried to put a stop to it, she shouted at me and swung her claws around.”</p><p>She then pointed to the wound. “the doctor said that it won’t leave any damage except a scar.”</p><p>“But, you can’t possibly blame my sister for that.” The witch reasoned. “She was obviously not in her right mind.”</p><p>“that may be true, but then again.” Luz said as she turned around and looked the women straight in the eyes. “Isn’t that the same situation that got her cursed in the first place?” this made Lilith recoil.</p><p>“What? I don’t get it.”</p><p>“well. Then allow me to explain.” The human began. “when you cursed her, you were driven by fear and anxiety. You couldn’t function or think properly. That is what caused you to jump into action and curse your own sister. you were lost in your emotions.” She shrugged. “guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as Eda acted in pure emotion when she hurt me. Sure, some people don’t know what they’re doing in the moment when that happens, but I have a feeling she knew. She knew what she was getting herself into.”</p><p>The brunette sighed. “and I’m not gonna lie, I had hopes for her that I would be able to avoid all of this and get her to turn to our side. But then she shattered her chances by showing that she’s a wild card which can’t be trusted, even by her friends and family.” She said with a scowl. “Sometimes you shouldn’t think the best of people and just see them for what they are.”</p><p>Lilith looked at her, concerned. “What happened to you? when I met you at first you were this annoying girl who wouldn’t stop talking and full of energy. And when I caught you at the palace you were determined to fight me off, even though you knew that I was way stronger then you.”</p><p>“But now you are working against Edalyn, the women who gave you shelter and a home! Why? Why do you turn against the people who care?”</p><p>Luz frowned. “I have my reasons Lilith. Just like you have reasons to keep things secret from the public, so do I. And I won’t say anything until I feel like it.” She then cast a dark look in Lilith’s direction. “But let me tell you this, most people around me are either forced to like me, pretend to like me to only stab me in the back or do care but in a way that would make you wish that they wouldn’t care at all. It’s always been this way.”</p><p>The witch wanted to protest and say that Eda wasn’t like that. She also wanted to ask the human what she meant by that, but she didn’t get a chance as loud noises could be heard from outside, making both of them turned towards the window.</p><p>“what is going on out there?” Luz asked out loud as she threw a glance outside. The earlier, relatively peaceful townsfolks had started shout and protest. all of them yelling one sentence like it was some sort of mantra.</p><p>“LET EDA GO!”</p><p>“LET EDA GO!”</p><p>“LET EDA GO!”</p><p>While Luz looked on in confusion, Lilith knew exactly what was going on.</p><p>It had started.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> A few minutes earlier, Amity, Willow and Gus had snuck up onto the prison grounds. Which wasn’t all that hard seeing the massive crowd. Practically the entirety of Bonesborough had shown up, making it one of the biggest public events of the last few years.</p><p>Seeing the importance of the event, this couldn’t go unreported. And so, Perry Porter was standing on a small platform in front of the crowd, giving a live report.</p><p>“Only half an hour left and then the petrification process will start.” He spoke. “And many have gathered here today to witness it. Soon, The Owl Lady shall appear on that podium over there and it shall begin.” He spoke to the camera in front of him. “Many have speculated on how the women got caught, seeing that she has been able to avoid the guard for years now. But there are rumors that the witch confronted Emperor coven leader Lilith Clawthorne, also known as her sister, and assaulted her. we tried to get an interview with Miss Clawthorne herself, as she will be attending today, but were unable to.”</p><p>As he continued his live report, the three young witches huddled up together to go over the plan one last time.</p><p>“Okay, we only have a certain amount of time, so we <em>have </em>to do this right. You two know what to do?” Amity asked as they stopped just outside to crowd.</p><p>The two nodded. “We do.” Willow responded.</p><p> “Get to my father, cause a distraction, make our way out of the crowd and then meet up at the side door, where you will be waiting for us.” Gus added.</p><p>The Blight nodded. “precisely.” She then frowned. “Try to be careful, we don’t know if any guards will try to stop you.” she said, concerned.</p><p>The plant witch put a reassuring hand in Amity’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. You just make sure that you manage to get to the entrance without any problems.”</p><p>After a bit of hesitation, the green haired witch nodded. “I will. And good luck you two.” She then turned around and started making her way past the crowd. As the green haired witch disappeared from sight, Willow turned towards her companion.</p><p>“Shall we?” she asked with a determined smile.</p><p>Gus nodded confidently. “Yep.”</p><p>The moment he gave the confirmation, the two started making their way towards their goal.</p><p>Meanwhile, Perry Porter was still continuing his report.</p><p>“By now, dear viewers, the ceremony is coming closer and closer with each second, as we’re only twenty five minutes away.” He spoke. “Around me, there is a sea of people, witches and demons alike. And Ladies and gentleman, the tension is so thick that it’s almost tangible.”</p><p>As the man kept talking, the masses weren’t keeping themselves still. By now, a multitude of them had begun to really doubt the Emperor’s decision. The wild witch may be a criminal and has done bad stuff, illegal stuff. But Petrification was way overboard. It was a faith that you wished to no witch nor demon.</p><p>And as people were either talking with each other, watching the podium or lost in their own thoughts, no one noticed the two witches running towards the news reporter.</p><p>As Willow and Gus reached the small plateau, they quickly climbed up.</p><p>“Dad!” Gus called out as he walked up next to his father, spooking the man.</p><p>“Augustus?!” Perry exclaimed. “what are you doing here? I’m live.” He whispered.</p><p>“Dad, You have to stop.” his son said. but before he could even form a response, Willow grabbed the microphone from him.</p><p>“He’s right.” She called out towards the people. “what happening to Eda isn’t right. Sure, she might not be the biggest follower of the rules, but nothing she has done is worthy a petrification.” She spoke.</p><p>“she helped me escape jail.” The eye-eating prisoner said.</p><p>“she kept me in business.” Morton added.</p><p>“she made me love teaching again.” Principal Bump spoke. “After she left.”</p><p>“see?” Willow continued. “Even though she’s a criminal, she has done good for the town. She’s an icon and something that makes Bonesborough special” as people started to mutter to each other and others looked at the young witch in agreement. She then raised her fist in the air. “The Emperor should let Eda go!” she exclaimed.</p><p>At first, no one reacted. But then Gus started chanting.</p><p>“Let Eda go!”</p><p>The moment those words left his mouth, it was repeated by the entire crowd. Their calls resonation between the walls surrounding them. the guards who were stationed close by, seemed to be getting worried as the volume of the cries rose.</p><p>And while the crowd was starting to causing a ruckus, no one noticed Willow and Gus leaving.</p><p>As the two made their way through the people, the looked around them. everywhere, there were people who were chanting for the Owl Lady’s freedom. They smiled at each other.</p><p>As they got out of the crowd, they quickly went on their way to meet up with their missing member. And it didn’t take long until the door came in sight.</p><p>And there Amity stood, leaning against the wall, waiting for them. “seems like you two really started something.” She spoke, impressed at the chaos. “I expected something, but not <em>this</em>.”</p><p>“Yep.” Gus spoke, proud of their work. “what can I say, I know what to say.” Willow gave him a playful jab.</p><p>“Hey, I did most of the talking.” She commented with an amused smile.</p><p>The boy let out a defeated sigh. “okay, yes. You did most of it.” he pouted. “But still, I came up with the battle cry.” Amity rolled her eyes in amusement.</p><p>“You two really are something.” She spoke. “But as much as I want to let you two bicker over who did what, we have a mission to complete.” The moment those words left her mouth, the two witches looked at her with a determined nod, every bit of funny business gone. The girl reached into her bag, grabbing to items they needed.</p><p>“Cloaks.” She said as she gave the two theirs as she put on her own. All three of them were darkly colored, making it possible for them to hide in the shadows if needed.</p><p>“Masks.” As she passed them around, the young Blight looked at the designs.</p><p>Willow’s looked like purple cyclops. the eye was see through from the wearers side, so it would obscure her vision. The twins probably picked this as a little jab regarding a certain triclops the group knew.</p><p>While Gus’s was that of a blue devil. It had small horns on top and a big wide grin. Black lines were set on it’s face like scars like it had been in a bloody battle. the two had probably chosen this one for Gus because it didn’t fit him at all, so in their eyes it would definitely fit him.</p><p>She then looked at the one in her own hands. It looked like it was divided in two main parts. A green furred fox with an eye of mischief, and a brown furred fox with an eye of wisdom. And when she had asked why they had such a thing, they said that they saw it one day and that it reminded them of her.</p><p>Edric and Emira had always been a little weird and when they said that something reminded them of her, it was mostly for fun. But this time they seemed to actually mean it.</p><p>“huh, looks cool.” Gus said as he tried his on. “and fits really well t-“ But he quickly removed it as his voice come out really rough and low. “What is-?”</p><p>“Yeah, they not only hide your identity, but also change your voice <em>and </em>they can’t be removed unless the wearer wants it to.” Amity explained “really high quality stuff.”</p><p>“how did you even get these?” The boy asked. “you don’t seem like the person who needs this sort of thing.”</p><p>“I’m not. I instead got them from Edric and Emira.” The girl responded. “apparently they use them to either play pranks on people or to hide their faces when they want to do something which could get them in really big trouble. Mostly both.” Her mind then drifted towards the twins and a feeling of worry started to rear it’s head. <em>‘I hope that they’re okay. For all I know mother and father have already found out and they are being punished right now.’ </em>she frowned.</p><p>“Ready to go Amity?” the plant witch asked, snapping the witch in question out of her thoughts.</p><p>Shaking her head, the Blight got rid of the bad thoughts. She then turned towards her childhood friend and nodded as she took out the scroll from her bag, which she then unrolled.</p><p> As Amity held up the piece of paper, it began to glow. And not long after, the same glow appeared on the lock of the door. A few seconds later, a satisfying click was heard.</p><p>“Let’s go.” she said as she up her cloaks hood and put her mask over her face. And as the two others did the same thing, she pushed the door open.</p><p>In front of them lay the wide open walls and halls of the feared prison. a possible last resting place for many. Feeling a sense of cold and nerves go down her spine, Amity took a deep breath. ‘<em>It’s now or never.’</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“What is going on?” Luz asked out loud as she looked at the yelling crowd. Almost the entirety of them had joined in.</p><p>“seems like the people are speaking their mind.” Lilith answered as she stood besides the brunette,  amazed at the giant commotion the young witches had caused.</p><p>The human scoffed. “Doesn’t matter. The Emperor will put a stop to this.”</p><p>The women shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t think he will.”</p><p>Luz cocked her head in confusion. “Why do you think that? Is he, you know, the Emperor?! And it’s absolute chaos out there!”</p><p>“that may be, but it’s a chaos caused by the own opinions of the citizens.” Lilith argued. “And as their leader, It’s practically his job to listen to their wishes.”</p><p>“Yes, but they shouldn’t have any say in this.” The brunette commented. “She’s a wanted criminal and dangerous. Something has to be done about it.” she frowned. “And seeing that she’s unwilling to change for the better, this is the only solution.”</p><p>Lilith look at the girl in front of her. <em>‘she’s fully convinced that this is the way.’ </em> She frowned slightly herself. ‘<em>I need to change that. It’s the least I can do right now.’ </em>she took a deep breath and started talking. “That may seem like it human, but-“</p><p>“I have a name!” Luz scoffed. “You know? the thing that most living beings have?!”</p><p>“right.” The older women nodded. “sorry. But as I was saying: that may seem that way, but there is always another, better way then the simplest, darkest route .” The human looked at her.</p><p>“Uhm, you lost me.”</p><p>She let out a sad sigh. “Huma- Luz, do you know what happens when someone is petrified?” her answer was a shake of the head. “Neither do we, as no one has ever been successfully unpetrified.” A scared look appeared in her eyes. “But rumors have been told that when a being is petrified, they are still alive or more accurately, their souls are. Those would be trapped in their own stone prisons, their own bodies, forcing them to spend eternity in conscious captivity.</p><p>There have also been stories that they can still look through their eyes and into the outside world. Because of that they would be forced to watch everything and everyone around them live their lives, while they are just standing there. Stuck.</p><p>And each time that the ones who knew would come to visit and pay their respects, they would watch their friends and loved ones grow older, find love, get married, have kids, and eventually pas away.”</p><p>Lilith glared at the ground. “But these stories have not been confirmed. But there has been some suspicion that they are true as some of the strongest oracle witches on the Isles thought they could hear agonizing wails and screams of suffering coming from some of the petrified victims. But none of them know for sure.</p><p>But even if they aren’t true, I don’t want to risk it with my sister.” she admitted. “she may be a dangerous individual and a thief. Even a wild witch. but she’s still my sister” she then turned towards the teen next to her.</p><p>“And she was your mentor.”</p><p>That made Luz frown as she looked everywhere but the witch in front of her. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean that she should be excused.” She could feel the witch’s gaze on the back of her head.</p><p>“Don’t act like you’re so innocent.” Lilith said. “I have heard stories about a human causing trouble around town.”</p><p>“yeah, but at least I’m trying to make up for it!” The human called out. “She would just let it be, not giving a single snail about it.”</p><p>“I’ll admit, Edalyn isn’t the… best role model or teacher. But the faith that she’s getting served is something belonging to criminals of the highest order.” She pointed out. “she’s no where near that.”</p><p>“What are you trying to say?”</p><p>Lilith took a deep breath. This was it. “What I’m saying, is that we should free my sister and let her go.”</p><p>The moments those words left her mouth, she was glad that no guards or coven members were around as it faintly echoed through the halls. Silence fell over them as the raven haired witch looked at the girl, who was looking at her skeptically.</p><p>“Lilith, are you trying to make me-“</p><p>“Make you turn against the Emperor? Not really.” The witch tried. “I’m saying that not every order should be followed and that this isn’t right. And as off as it feels to say it, the Emperor is wrong in this case. He’s saying that this is needed, but that’s not true!”</p><p>Luz shook her head softly. “Lilith, why would he lie to us? he has absolutely no reason to.”</p><p>“Because hu- Luz, he wants to get rid of my sister. She’s a threat to him.” the raven haired witch argued. “And everything that he can’t control and that could pose a threat to him, has to be eliminated.”</p><p>“But you’ve worked for him for years. How have you then not noticed anything until now?”</p><p>“I was too blinded by my own ambitions and goals that I didn’t realize what was happening around me.” Lilith said with a sigh. “From childhood, we were always taught that the Emperor was this force of good and that we would achieve great things with him as leader.” She frowned. “But now, I highly doubt that.”</p><p>“Many have fallen for his lies and tricks, including me. But unlike me, they don’t realize the wrongs of their doings.” She then grabbed the teen’s shoulders. “But <em>you</em> Luz, it’s not to late for you. you haven’t drowned yet under all of his deceit. You still have the change to leave on your own choice.”</p><p>“You and I both know that Eda should be punished, but not like this. We need to do what is right. <em>You</em> need to do what is right.”</p><p>“I don’t know Lilith.” Luz said as she shook off the women’s hands. “I mean, can I really trust your word in this? You would obviously have a bad reaction towards the Emperor because of the situation with Eda.”</p><p>“Luz, listen to me. The Emperor lied to me. Even after years of trusted and loyal service, he lied to me in my face.” The witch spoke as she looked the human straight in the eyes. “And there’s nothing that is preventing him from doing the same to you. whatever he has promised you, he will not continue on his part of the deal. And this whole thing is proof of that.</p><p>He told me for years that he would heal her, he would cure her! instead, he sentenced her to a faith worse then death! After I did so much for him, and this is my reward for it all! Seeing how my sister is going to get turned to stone!“ she scoffed. “And nothing will stop him from doing it again. Before you know it, he’s got you wound around his finger as well and before you know it, everything and everyone you care about will be gone.”</p><p>“I- I guess you have a point there.” The human nervously took a deep breath. “I’ll- I’ll think about it, okay?” She looked at the ground. “I just don’t know okay?” she then felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked back up.</p><p>“Luz, I know that you’ll make the right decision.” Lilith said with a soft encouraging smile. She then walked of to continue with her ‘patrol’. “If you make you’re decision, you know where to find me.”</p><p>The moment the older women disappeared from sight, Luz’s gaze turned determined. “Oh and don’t worry Lilith, I’m making the right decision all right.” She grabbed a small scroll from her belt. It worked the same as an ordinary phone scroll, but it was more like the witches version of a walkie-talkie.</p><p>“attention, groups alfa and beta!” she called out into the radio scroll. “change of plans.”</p><p>“what do you mean Miss?” came the response.</p><p>“the process shall start earlier then planned.” Luz said, leaving no room for discussions. And as the guard wanted to respond anyway, she said. “If you want to know more, take it up with the Emperor, alright?”</p><p>Getting a confirmation back, she put it back on her belt and briefly let her sights rest on the people outside.</p><p>“seems like you were right after all.” She tore her gaze away from the crowd and walked off.</p><p>The time of judgement was approaching, and fast.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so again, sorry for being late.<br/>and my bad if some parts are not exactly up to standard. I was really trying my best to connect everything.<br/>I'm also planning on rewriting parts of the chapters, mainly Luz as it feels like she's all over the place. just don't know when.</p><p>And honestly, I have no idea when the next chapter will come out.<br/>but one thing is for sure: IF, and that's a big if. IF I get some kind of writers block or something on this story or I need to take a break from it, I will post a chapter of me telling you exactly that, It will also be titled something like: Short Hiatus or I Need A Break or something like that.</p><p>anyway, hope you enjoyed.<br/>as always leave your comments down below,<br/>And I hope to see all of you next chapter.<br/>Gr Elementalwriter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Last Day (Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry It's late. was kinda hard to write.</p><p>Hope You Enjoy.:)</p><p>(how in the world is this chapter 10K long?! they were supposed to be 4 to 6K each, not this!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Silence surrounded her as Lilith walked down the halls of the Conformatorium. She was lost in her own thoughts as she was in her way. Her mind had been occupied since the moment she had woken up. First she had sabotaged the carriage which would be used to transport her sister, hoping to buy herself and the kids some extra time. Sadly that didn’t work out as planned as they managed to repaired it faster then she thought.</p><p>As her heels clacked against the stone floor, making it the only thing break the silence around her. As she continued on her way, her mind drifted off to the conversion she just had.</p><p>She had acted so different, even more then yesterday. When she had met the human, she honestly didn’t think much off her. She maybe was Edalyn’s student, but it was still a human. Unable to do magic.</p><p>Then she had caught a brief glimpse of the girl when she was chasing down her sister through town. She didn’t know why she was there, but that didn’t matter at the moment. The women shuddered as she remembered her switching bodies with a dog. It had taken a few hours for her to be able to switch back as the dog had taken off with her body.</p><p>Then there was when she caught her and her friends in the artifact room. All three of the kids were ready to take her on. Especially the human. She looked like she was ready to fight even though she knew that she didn’t stand a chance. She looked determined to keep the healing hat safe.</p><p>Then, as Lilith tried to take it from her, it was destroyed.</p><p>That memory brought a frown on the witch’s face. the girl had called out that it was meant to heal her mentor. And the raven haired witch had completely scorched the chance. but she didn’t care.</p><p>Because, at the time, she believed that Belos was the only way to remove the curse that she had bestowed upon her sister. It had been like that for years.</p><p>Turns out, what a fool she was.</p><p>Sure, the Emperor still may be the only way, but dealing with the curse themselves looked more tempting then asking for his help again. Who knew what he could do to them?!</p><p>The women hit the wall with her fist, frustrated. If she had just listened to the teen <em>before</em> she attacked her, then things could have gone way differently.</p><p><em>‘what if the hu- Luz, was right?’ </em>her mind wandered. <em>‘would the healing hat have healed the curse? Would this whole ordeal never happened? Would Eda have been fine?’ </em>the guilty witch let out a sad sigh. ‘<em>It’s not like we’ll ever know now.’</em></p><p>There was nothing now that she could do about it. the healing coven artifact had been completely destroyed, far beyond repair.</p><p>Luz’s face flashed in the front of her eyes, right after she saw the hat burn to cinders. Loss, fear, disbelieve. She had looked so broken.</p><p>Then, to make matters even worse, Lilith had send her two friends to fetch her sister as she kept the human as a hostage. How much the girl had squirmed and resisted. As she had dragged the girl through the halls, Luz had looked at her with fear. Her mind flashed back to what happened.</p><p><em>“what are you going to do with me?”</em> <em>the scared girl asked. Lilith responded with a cold chuckle and a toothy grin like she had just won some kind of competition.</em></p><p>
  <em>‘You, are going to help me get to Edalyn.” Luz glared at her</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“in your dreams maybe!” the teen responded, her fear gone like snow under the sun and her eyes set in a glare.. “like I’ll ever help you with that.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lilith scoffed. “why do you assume you even got a choice.” She said as she pointed her staff at the kid. And in less then a second, the girl was encased in a blue energy bubble.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey!” Luz shouted as she slammed her fists on the inside of her ‘cell’. “Let me out!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The raven haired witch shook her head. “Not going to happen. You are going to help me, if you like it or-“</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Uhm, Miss Lilith?” the women turned around and saw a coven member stand behind her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What is it?!” she exclaimed, annoyed at the interruption. “what is so important that it can’t wait?! Can’t you see that I’m kind off busy here?!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The member gulped. “Y-yes Miss, I can see that.” They shuffled their feet nervously. “It’s just that… that-“</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That what?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That I had to gather you and the human for him and bring you to his throne room.” they quickly said.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Huh.” Lilith frowned. “Did he say anything about why?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The guard shook their head. “No, and it’s not our place to ask. His will is law and we are not to question his decision.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Right.” The women nodded. “Lead the way then.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The guard nodded in return and they went on their way. And while the human continued to struggle in her bubble it didn’t do much as they soon reached the giant metal doors of the throne room. The masked member knocked. “My Emperor? I brought Miss Clawthorne and the human as you asked.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>From the room, came a response. “she and the girl may come further.” The guard turned them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He can see you now.” Lilith nodded.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“yes, thank you.” as she walked forward with the bubble right behind her, the coven member opened the door for her with a bow. When she entered, she could hear the human audibly gulp. She then looked up towards the man standing in front of the throne. “Greetings, Emperor Belos.” The women said with a bow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Rise Lilith.”  The man in question calmly spoke. “I believe that we have a new guest here in the castle?” he said rhetorically.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, of course.” The raven haired women quickly responded. “My Lord, I present to you, the human.” Lilith said as she stepped to the side and moved Luz in front of her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ah, Yes. Luz the human.” Belos said as he walked down the stairs. “Finally we meet. I have heard a lot about you.” As the man talked, the teenage girl was almost sweating up a storm in her little prison. “hm, I think that we would be able to talk better if we didn’t have this barrier between us, don’t you agree?” he then turned towards the Clawthorne sister. “Lilith, mind freeing her?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Uhm, why yes sir.” She said as she immediately snapped her fingers, making the bubble disappear. As it vanished, Luz landed on the ground with a thud.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ah! Couldn’t you have set me on the ground first?!” she called out at the witch.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, be quiet you.” Lilith snapped. “You will only speak when asked!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Now, now Lilith.” The masked man interfered. “She’s a guest, and we don’t treat guests like that. Now do we?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The women’s eyes widened. “No, of course not. Sorry Sir.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“fascinating, truly fascinating.” Belos spoke as he seemingly inspected the human, while the girl stood there, trembling and sweating.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lilith, I want you to leave us alone.” He then spoke without even turning towards the witch in question. “Get ready for your sister’s visit. I believe that she’ll arrive here shortly.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bowing, the raven haired women quickly responded. “Yes, My Lord.” As she walked out the door and while it closed behind her, she heard the human ask what he wanted from her. A tremble clear in her voice, making a small bit of Lilith’s consciousness nipping at her mind.</em>
</p><p>That had been the last time that she had seen the brunette, until yesterday. She didn’t know what had happened in that room, but something changed the human. And while she didn’t know Luz very well, she knew someone who did. Her student Amity.</p><p>And while the young witch had mostly refused to talk to her after the Covention, in the brief moments that they did spend talking, Luz’s name came forth almost every single time. Lilith even noticed a change in the way she said it as well. It had gone from annoyance, to friendlier, to positive. So positive, that the girl almost spaced out last time when she was talking about the brunette.</p><p>That made Lilith chuckle. <em>‘She has it bad, doesn’t she?’ </em> she then frowned. <em>‘I hope that Luz makes the right choice, and returns to the right side. Otherwise Amity and her friends will eventually have to face of against her, and Amity’s heart will be shattered.’ </em>That’s why she didn’t mention anything to the girl yesterday. She would have been freaking out and would’ve made dumb decisions in a direct effort to save her crush.</p><p>The chance was still there that the human would chance her mind. And if she did, then Lilith would have almost given the young Blight a heart attack for no reason. The human girl wasn’t lost yet.</p><p>The witch grunted in annoyance as her feet started to protest. the heels she was wearing weren’t really made for long walks. Seeing no one around, Lilith leaned against the wall to give her legs some rest. That also gave her a moment to sum everything up.</p><p>Through her apprentice, she learned that the human was this big ball of energy who wanted to befriend everyone and everything, who didn’t want to cause harm to anyone, either friend or even foe. She was also a person who mostly tried to see the best in people, even though that didn’t always work out as well.</p><p>But from what Lilith had seen so far today, it was the exact opposite.</p><p>Now the human seemed to show a side of her that Lilith didn’t expect she even had, especially compared to what Amity had told her. Luz still slightly acted like she had before, but even that was different.</p><p>She still made jokes, but instead of humorous intend, they were meant to hurt the other. She had also heard that the girl had beaten up a multitude of guards yesterday. Sure, they had all challenged her, but from what she had gathered it wasn’t like her to leave her opponents moaning and groaning on the ground in pain. So far with not wanting to cause any harm if possible.</p><p>To not even mention her use of words. <em>‘Sometimes you shouldn’t think the best of people and just see them for what they are.’</em> The human had said, filled with venom. The tone and the way it was said made it sound unnatural from her.</p><p>She <em>wanted </em>her sister to be petrified, and made sure of it to let Lilith know that it was her fault. The jabs at her were understandable, very understandable. But the bad wishes towards Eda didn’t make any sense.</p><p>In the castle she looked like she was ready to give her life for her teacher, and now the women seemed nothing more then an annoying speck of dust to her.</p><p>Lilith looked up as her thoughts were interrupted by a bunch of running footsteps coming her way, and fast. As the sound came closer, a small group of Emperor’s coven members come running down the hallway. the witch looked at the approaching group with confusion. <em>‘why are they not at their posts? What’s going one here?’</em></p><p>As the group was passing her, and knowing that this was maybe the only way she would get to know, Lilith grabbed the one in the back by the shoulder as they past her, making them shout in shock and stopping them in their tracks. “Excuse me?” she spoke, making member turn around. When the person saw who was in front of them, they immediately saluted.</p><p>“Yes Miss Lilith?” they asked. Hearing by the voice this was a young women. She probably just joined seeing her nervous shaking.</p><p>“Where is everyone rushing off to?” she asked. “The process doesn’t start for another eighteen minutes or so.” The younger women in front of her cocked her head.</p><p>“Haven’t you heard Miss? The petrification shall begin earlier then planned.” the masked women explained.</p><p>Lilith shook her head in disbelieve. “Who gave that order?” the guard shrugged.</p><p>“Don’t exactly know.” she admitted. “But from what I heard this seems to be an order from the Emperor himself.” She then nervously looked behind her to were the rest had gone. “Can I go now? I need to be at my station.”</p><p>“Yes, yes. Sure, you may go.” The raven haired witch waved her off. and with a quick nod, the women took off again.</p><p><em>‘A change of schedule? That is very unlike him.’ </em>she thought to herself. <em>‘Is he just sick of waiting?’ </em>she shook her head. ‘<em>No, that would be it. that man has patience like no one else. He would be able to watch paint dry on a wall without losing it.’</em></p><p>She frowned. <em>‘But what other reason does he have? It can’t be that something else come up in his schedule, as this has the top priority. Only something major can change his plans, but nothing going on here is important enough for that.’</em></p><p>“Unless,” her eyes widened as she felt a feeling of dread glide down her back. “Belos suspects something!” Then as fast as her heels would allow it, she started running ,not caring if anyone saw. Luckily she knew exactly where they were heading. “I need to warn the kids!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile the teens had been traveling through the cold halls of the giant building. Luckily for them, Lilith had given them a layout of the prison, seeing that everything looked the same. Amity was up front, directly followed Gus and then Willow.</p><p>So far, the teens didn’t really have any troubles. Sure, they had encountered a few guards patrolling around. but they were able to dive away into the shadows and hide, or quickly go into another hall until the guards passed them.</p><p>“where are we?” Gus asked. As Willow shrugged, Amity looked at the map she had made in her last conversation with her so called mentor.</p><p>“Well, we should be approaching the holding cells, which are close by the place were Eda is kept.” She said as she looked at her two companions. “so we’re nearly there.”</p><p>“Good, because this place is giving me the creeps.” The boy responded.</p><p>“Same.” Willow agreed.</p><p>“Don’t worry guys.” Amity tried to encourage them. “It won’t be too long now until we get to Miss Eda. And when we have her, we’ll get out of here as fast as possible.” The two witches nodded back, and as the Blight looked back in front of her.</p><p>While she tried to hide it, she was also incredibly creeped out by their surroundings. Everywhere she looked, there was a sense of hopelessness..</p><p>The gray walls seemed to whisper imprisonment, as there were a multitude of wanted posters lining them. tall stone archways stood at each hallway like some kind of tempting portal to freedom or a way to an even worse fate. the halls themselves were filled with tons upon tons of cells, which luckily unoccupied at the moment. In the back of those small rooms, heavy metal chains hung from the walls with as goal to remove even more freedom from the prisoners.</p><p>Amity shivered slightly as she saw scratch marks on some of the bricks, indicating how desperate the former inhabitants were to get out.</p><p>And then to think that Eda was locked up in one of these was just, disturbing.</p><p>Just walking through these halls gave the teens a sense of dread. Like something was watching them. each of them wanted to get out and get as far away from here as possible. But they all knew they couldn’t.</p><p>But it was all worth it as, once they got Eda out, they would be able to look for Luz. Lilith had said that she didn’t know where the human was, but Amity’s best guess was that she was still held captive in the castle. And if they wanted to even stand a chance at getting in there, they needed the Owl Lady’s help.</p><p>The youngest Blight turned sad as she thought about the human. She missed how positive the human always was, how she could cheer up any room she was in. how she was able to make Amity smile like no one else could.</p><p>How she changed her life for the better.</p><p>The moment they got her to safety, Amity was determined to confessing her feelings for the human. Sure, she was afraid of what could happen if she did, and didn’t know if she was fully ready for it, but seeing recent events, Amity was determined to do it before anything else could take the human away from her.</p><p>As the three walked, their footsteps echoed through the empty halls, creating an ominous noise. It sounded like there was about four times more of them then there actually were.</p><p>But as the echoes somehow got louder, they realized that those weren’t echoes at all.</p><p>Guards! And by the sound, they were too big of a group to take on. Realizing that, the plant witch grabbed her friends by the arms. “Quick! Hide!” Willow whisper shouted as she pulled the other two into the nearest hall and hid behind a pillar. The teens shuffled for a bit so that they could all get behind it. but they managed it.</p><p>Gus was the unlucky one as she was pushed against the wall, while Amity stood in front of him and Willow next to them. “Guys,” he groaned. “can I maybe get a little more space? I can barely breath.”</p><p>Amity gave the boy an apologetic look. “Sorry Gus, but this is the only way they won’t see us.” she whispered back.</p><p>“Guys, quiet.” Willow whispered as the group of steps were right by the entrance of the hall. She stepped further back, making sure that she was out of sight.</p><p>But in doing so, she bumped into some low hanging chains, causing a small rattling sound to echo trough the hall. Gus and Amity immediately looked at their friend, who was glaring at the metal chain like it should feel guilty for what it had done.</p><p>The trio listened for any signs of them being found out. But all they could hear was the retreating footfalls of the group of guards.</p><p>Just as they were about to step out,</p><p>“Anyone there?” a sudden voice called out. the three froze on the spot. One of the guard had heard them and had stayed behind. “Hello?”</p><p>Amity looked towards the voice with annoyance. <em>‘Seriously, does that ever actually work? Why even try?’</em></p><p>They then heard the guard groan. “But I’m sure I…..Ugh. I should lay of the Apple Blood late at night. It making me hear noises that aren’t there.”</p><p>Everything was going fine, and they could hear the guard starting to walk away,</p><p>Until Gus’s foot accidentally slipped on Willow’s cloak and ended up kicking the stone pillar. The boy let out a cry of pain. The three witches paled as she heard the guard react at the sudden noise.</p><p>“What was that?”</p><p>They each held their breath as  footsteps came closer to their hiding spot. Each could hear their own heart beating frantically.</p><p>As the steps approached and seeing no other way out, Amity started preparing a spell, ready to fight. <em>‘time to say goodnight.’</em></p><p>She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and as she looked she saw Gus shaking his head. The girl looked at him questioningly, but he just gave her a look which said: “<em>Trust me.”</em> She then nodded and dispelled her unfinished circle. The moment she did, he drew his own spell above them.</p><p>The ring then descended around them, and Amity felt a tingle go down her spine.</p><p>No sooner had the ring reached the ground and disappeared, and the guard’s mask came into view.</p><p><em>‘we’re done for.’ </em>Amity thought as they guard looked right at them.</p><p>But to her amazement, the guard didn’t react at seeing them. the Blight looked at the boy behind her, who looked at her confidently and put a finger to his lips.</p><p>The guard looked at them, confused. “But I could have sworn that-“</p><p>“What are you doing?” another voice called.</p><p>“I thought I heard something.” The guard responded. “But I don’t see anything.”</p><p>“Probably just the wind or something.” the second guard responded. “I mean, come on. No one is actually dumb enough to break in here with all of us around. I told you that you shouldn’t drink so much Apple Blood late at night!”</p><p>the first guard groaned in acknowledgement. “I know, I know.”</p><p>“Now come on, if we don’t get going we’ll be late.” The guard in front of them nodded and ran back.</p><p><em>‘late? Late for what?’ </em>Amity thought.</p><p>The moment it was sure that both of the guards were gone, in a small flash, the teens became visible once again. As they stepped out from their hiding spot, Amity released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “That was way too close.” She then patted Gus on the back. “Good and quick thinking Gus.”</p><p>Willow nodded in agreement. “yeah, that was pretty impressive.”  </p><p>The boy puffed out his chest in pride. “Eh, Just a trick that I learned about a week ago.” he then slumped. “But let’s hope that we don’t encounter more like that, because it’s not very easy to uphold.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he added. “Besides, I won’t be able to use it for another ten seven minutes or so, otherwise it would ask to much of my magic. Teachers instructions.”</p><p>“Understandable. So Let’s just hope for the best then.” The plant witch agreed. The girl then turned towards her childhood friend and saw a frown on her face. “Something wrong Amity?” the witch in question looked up as she heard her name.</p><p>“Huh? Oh, no. It’s just that,” she frowned again as she recalled in her mind what she had heard. “The other guard said something about being late. Should we be worrying about that?”</p><p>Her two friends glanced at each other. “Well, It could be something, or it could be nothing.” Gus reasoned. “I say that we’ll keep it in mind and just put it to the side. We’ve got more important things to do.”</p><p>The plant witch of the group nodded. “Agreed. We’re here to safe Eda and that’s what counts.”</p><p>Even though she didn’t fully agree, Amity shrugged. “I guess you’re right. Now come on.” She called out as she walked away. “We’ve got a criminal to free.” The teen frowned. “That sounded a lot better in my head.” This caused her friends to lightly chuckle as they followed her.</p><p>And so, they were back on track.</p><p>As they quickly made their way through the countless hallways, they mostly stayed quiet. If there were any other guards around, they didn’t want attract any attention.</p><p>But since they were teens, they couldn’t keep their silence forever. And after a little while, Willow and Gus started some small talk to ease the mood. But the other member of the group didn’t really pay them any mind.</p><p>As Amity walked on, her thoughts wandered back to what the guard had said. and while Willow and Gus told her to not worry about it, she had a bad feeling that it was somehow important. As she turned a corner, she instantly got shaken out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened and she quickly dove back behind the wall, surprising her friends.</p><p>“Amity?! What are-“</p><p>“Sssssh.” The green haired witch shushed them as she pointed at the corner. As Gus and Willow took a peak, they saw what had scared the Blight. About seven guards were walking around, blocking their way completely.</p><p>“What are we going to do now?” Willow asked. “Is there no other way to get to the holding cell?” to her great disappointment, Amity shook her head.</p><p>“Unless we want to waste a load of time and risk not getting to Miss Eda in time, there isn’t.”</p><p>Gus threw up his arms. “great. Just amazing.” He groaned. “And I take it that we can’t just sneak past them.” the response was another shake of the head.</p><p>“it’s way to open. They would spot us immediately.”</p><p>“Gus can make us invisible again.” Willow proposed. The boy nodded in agreement, but Amity shook her head a third time.</p><p>“First of, Gus, aren’t you still in you seven minute window?” the illusion witch wanted to argue, but closed his mouth as he knew that she was right. “Second, that spell doesn’t make us sound proof so they would be able to hear us walk. Besides, the way they are walking around would give us an unpredictable path to follow. One mishap and the plan goes in the thrash and we in jail.” She let out a sigh. “right now, I only see one way we can do this.”</p><p>The plant witch frowned. “wait, you want to-..”</p><p>“Force out way through? Indeed.”</p><p>Gus looked at her like she had gone insane. “Are you crazy? We’re three Hexside students! We won’t be able to go up against six fully trained prison guards!” he whisper shouted. “we would be toast if we confront them in a duel.”</p><p> Amity threw one last look around the corner.</p><p>Then an idea dawned on her. “what if we don’t have to?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>The witch turned towards her friends with a triumphant smile. “they may be stronger and more experienced, but all we have to do is be smarter.”</p><p>Willow shook her head in amusement. “So I take it you have a plan?”</p><p>“Oh, do I.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know,” Guard one spoke up as he leaned against the wall. “with this whole thing going on with the Owl Lady and all that, you would think that it would be more, exciting.”</p><p>Guard two shrugged. “I didn’t really expect anything else then normal.”</p><p>Guard three nodded in agreement. “Indeed. What makes you think that it would be any different?”</p><p>“I mean, she’s the famous ‘Owl Lady’. This big dangerous witch, and she’s just going to sit here peacefully? And no one is willing to rescue her?”</p><p>“She’s a criminal.” Four reasoned. “Why would anyone want to rescue her?”</p><p>“Her family?” Six said as a wild guess.</p><p>Five snorted. “Yeah, right. I heard that the only known family she has is Miss Lilith. And she’s the reason she’s locked up here in the first place. So I highly doubt that.”</p><p>Two shook his head. “To be honest, we don’t actually know that.”</p><p>“yeah,” Six agreed. “I don’t know if you have a sibling, but Wouldn’t <em>you </em>try to save them if they were stuck here?” Five let out a deep laugh.</p><p>“HA! First of, yes, I do. I have a brother. Second of, if he ended up here I would let him rot in his cell.”</p><p>“Why?” Six asked.</p><p>“It makes sense to me,” Four jumped in. “I mean, he would be here for a reason and he then should serve his sentence.” Five nodded.</p><p>“yeah, that. But I would also let him suffer here if he was innocent. I don’t give a damn about him.”</p><p>“are your morals really that low?” Six reacted. “It’s your own brother!”</p><p>“so what if he is? I don’t care! Besides, why should you care!?”</p><p>The two guards continued to argue, with some comments in between from Two, Three and Four. One groaned in annoyance. <em>‘why do I have to be on guard duty with these guys? I could have literally could have gotten anyone, and it was this group.’</em></p><p> He then jumped as a loud clang could be heard from further down the hall. “what was that?!” the others shrugged. Seeing no one do anything, he groaned. “Well, is anyone going to look, or…?”</p><p>“why would we?” Guard five responded.</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know. BECAUSE IT’S OUR JOB MAYBE!?” he cussed under his breath. “You know what, I’ll do it. You, follow me.” He said as he pointed at number three. Reluctantly, the guard walked after him, and together they disappeared around the corner.</p><p>Number five snorted. “I bet they won’t even find anything.”</p><p>Five seconds passed.</p><p>Ten seconds passed.</p><p>Twenty seconds.</p><p>Thirty.</p><p>A minute.</p><p>Two minutes.</p><p>“Why are they gone for so long?” Four asked. “It sounded relatively close, so it shouldn’t take this long.”</p><p>“Don’t know.” Five said with a shrug. “But then again, for all I know their making ou-“ he couldn’t even finish his sentence before a massive vine shot around the corner and struck him in the chest at full force, making him airborne.</p><p>“What is-?!” Six shouted, as he saw his colleague go flying. No sooner had he said that and three figures ran in from were the plant had come from, each of them wearing a masks and cloaks.</p><p>Before they could recover from shock, Amity had already created a fireball and send it sailing towards one of them. Six just managed to dodge it last second, if only by a hair.</p><p>That was their wake up call, as they rushed towards the intruders. Two ran at Amity, while four was going after Willow.</p><p>Which left Gus and Six. “How you doing?” Gus said jokingly, like they weren’t about to fight each other.</p><p>The guard snarled. “You really got some guts, breaking in here. you should have known that it was a big risk to come here. ” the boy just shrugged.</p><p>“Eh, some risks are worth taking.” He said calmly. “Besides, if you’re this easy to trick, it’s not so dangerous.”</p><p>The guard looked down at him, confused. “Easy to trick? What do you-“ he couldn’t finish his sentence or the boy exploded in a big pile of smoke which, spread fast. Six coughed as he inhaled the blue smoke. He couldn’t see anything. “Wha-*Cough*- where are you?!”</p><p>All he got as a response was laughter.</p><p>He then thought he could see something move trough the thick fog around him. and as he squinted, he could see the boy standing still. ‘<em>got you now.’</em> And with a running start, he dived towards the kid.</p><p>The next thing he knew was pain, followed by everything going dark for him.</p><p>As the fog disappeared, Gus could be seen standing next to Six’s body, who was laying in front of one of the stone pillars lining the hall. The boy shook his head as he dispelled his illusion in front of pillar.</p><p>“You know, you should look before you jump.” He said as he jumped over Six’s unconscious body. “It could have spared you a lot of embarrassment.”</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Willow was using her vines to completely overpower her opponent. He was attacked from all sides, left, right, front, back, up, down. But he was holding his ground fairly well with him either throwing up small barrier shields or to block it with his arms. So far he had managed to block most of the plant’s blows, barely scratching him. “Do you really think you can just take a guard like this? With these petty attacks?” the guard boasted.</p><p>“maybe, maybe not.” Willow responded. “But I can try.” She then stretched her arms, sending another volley of strikes his way.</p><p>Four smirked as he squared up and got ready to block. This kid didn’t know what she was doing. She was a rooky compared to him. <em>‘I just need to be patient. Soon she will make a mistake and then I’ll take her out.’ </em>he thought as he threw up a small barrier.</p><p>There was only one major problem with that plan.</p><p>The longer this went on, the more exhausted Four was becoming. Both his physical and magical energy were draining. And because of that he was slowly getting slower in his movement and his barriers were starting to weaken. Instead of Willow, he was making mistakes.</p><p>He just managed to block another strike and was still recovering when the plant witch saw an opportunity. She then called up a root way bigger then any of the small ones she had been using and send it rocketing at him. the plant smashed into him at full force, making him go airborne. The moment he hit the ground, he had already lost consciousness.</p><p> </p><p>Amity meanwhile was fighting her own battle with Two. The guard wasn’t extremely strong, but he also wasn’t weak. So far he had managed to deflect most of her fireballs and even got some shots in himself. Slowly but surely he was pushing her back. And it was only a matter of time until Amity almost stood with her back against the wall.</p><p>“Got you now, pest.” Two spoke as he walked towards her. “There is no way to run.” Amity just cocked her head and grinned under her mask.</p><p>“Are you sure about that?”</p><p>The guard gulped as a shadow rose up behind her. An abomination tall enough to tower over the him. He visibly gulped as the creature loomed over him. “Oh no.”</p><p>The next thing he knew, he was punched in the gut, sending him flying backwards into one of the pillars. After the impact, he slid down to the floor, knocked out cold. Seeing her friends done with their opponents as well, they turned towards the last one standing.</p><p>Somehow Five had managed to recover from the surprise attack and was standing again. And while the guard tried to act tough, he was trembling in his shoes. “s-stay awa-ay, you h-hear me?!” Five stuttered. After witnessing what happened to his colleagues, he wasn’t excited having to face of against to intruders. “I’m t-telling you! D-Don’t come any c-closer or you’ll regret it!”</p><p>Confused, Gus pointed at the shaking guard. “And he’s supposed to stop prisoners from escaping?”</p><p>Willow shrugged as Amity responded “Apparently.”</p><p>“You hear me?! Stay-“ he then took a fireball to the gut, knocking him back and unconscious.</p><p>As the culprit turned to look at her friends, she saw that they were giving her a deadpanned gaze. “what?” Amity called out. “I was getting annoyed by him. Besides we need to get a move on before more show up.”</p><p>“Okay.” Gus agreed. “But what do we do with these guys?”</p><p>“weeell,” Willow spoke as she pointed at the ceiling. “I may have an idea.”</p><p>And in no time, the complete group of six guards could be seen wrapped up in vines like a package, hanging from the roof. The witch nodded in approval. “That ought to do it.”</p><p>Gus nodded. “Seems sturdy enough.” He then turned towards Amity. “Now that is delt with, how far until we get to Eda? Because If I’ve got to be honest right now, I really just wanna get this over with and go home. You know, where it’s safe.” The slightly annoyed boy asked as the Blight looked at her map.</p><p>“Well, judging by the map it should be at the end of this hallway actually.” She responded.</p><p>The illusion witch sighed. “Finally some good news.” Willow hummed in agreement.</p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p>They continued on their way through the hall, until Amity suddenly stopped. Almost causing Willow to run into her. ”what is it? more guards?” the Blight shook her head and pointed.</p><p>In front of them were big wooden double doors, looming over the trio. They were easily three times their height and had gold worked into the frame and the doors itself, making it stronger. And keeping it closed was a big lock on a heavy iron chain.</p><p>“This is it.” Amity said as she double checked the map. “This is the place where they’re holding Miss Eda.”</p><p>“We actually did it! Wooooh!” Gus cheered. “High five!” the two other witches quickly shushed him as guards could still be around. “whoops.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Still, High five?” he whispered.</p><p>Willow let out an sigh and shook her head. But none the less, she gave him his high five.</p><p>The Blight rolled her eyes in fake annoyance. “You two have been around Luz too much.”</p><p>“Why do you say it like that’s a bad thing?” The boy said with pride, which made Willow and Amity let out a small chuckle. He then frowned as he looked at the doors in front of them. “But how are we going to get in? Are we gonna try to find a guard, knock them out and then hope that they have the key?”</p><p>“That will take too long.” The plant witch spoke with a shake of her head. “we need to get in before anyone is onto us and we’ll be surrounded by dozens of guard.”</p><p>“so what are we going to do? Pick the lock, or….?” The boy asked. The Blight shook her head in response.</p><p>“No. I think I’ve got a better idea.” She then closed her eyes in concentration, followed by her drawing a spell and created a brightly blazing fireball. <em>‘let’s hope this is hot enough.’ </em>She then flung the orb right at the precious metal lock. As it hit, it burst apart, lighting the lock ablaze.</p><p>“Uhm, how is that supposed to do anything for us?” Willow asked. “If it was made out of wood, them it would have worked. But metals don’t exactly burn Amity.” She said as she threw up her arms.</p><p>“Give it some time.” The girl spoke patiently. But in her mind, she was hoping that it would actually work. <em>‘come on, come on, please.’</em></p><p>In the next few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. But then the lock showed signs of melting.</p><p>“Good.” <em>‘Oh thank the Titan!’</em> She then turned towards the plant coven witch. “Willow, if you please?” she said as she stepped to the side.</p><p>At first, the witch looked at her in confusion. Then her eyes lit up in understanding. “Ooooh, I got you.” she then drew her own spellcircle and from the ground rose a bunch of thick vines. She then extended her arm out towards the lock and the plant wrapped themselves around it. And as Willow pulled back her arm, the plants ripped the metal thing and its chain straight of the door with a large clang and crash.</p><p>The three were silent for a moment, listening for any guards approaching who had heard it. Hearing and seeing no one, Gus spoke up in confusion. “Wait. If Willow had been able to do that from the start, then why did you throw that fireball at it in the first place?”</p><p>“Because,” Amity explained. “It had a strengthening spell on it, which would have made it almost impossible to break. And by partly melting it, it got weakened to such a degree that Willow was able to break it.”</p><p>The boy frowned. “But how did you know that?”</p><p>“It just made sense for a prison like this to have magically reinforced locks.” The Blight said with a shrug.</p><p>“So, you basically just guessed.” Willow playfully jabbed with a grin.</p><p>Amity opened her mouth to protest, but came up with nothing.</p><p>The teasing witch chuckled. “Hey, it worked. And that’s what counts right now.” She then walked towards the now unlocked doors. “Now, let’s get Eda out of here.” her two companions nodded and together they pushed the doors wide open.</p><p>As the trio walked into the big room and closed the door behind them, they each casted their own light spell took of their masks so they would be able to see better. And when the room was illuminated slightly, they were able to look around.</p><p>All around them there were all kinds of object, but they all had the same theme: imprisonment.</p><p>There were big metal cages everywhere, as well as metal chains hanging from the ceiling. Amity even thought that she could spot some iron maidens and torture tables as well. <em>‘I know that this is a prison and all that, but aren’t these a little overboard?’</em></p><p>But that wasn’t the thing that they were focused on as in the middle of the room, laying in the sunlight, was what seemed to be massive animal, curled up in a ball. The three shared glances, each of them thinking the same thing. <em>‘that’s her.’</em></p><p>As they slowly approached her, they watch every single move she made, from her breathing to her hind legs softly moving.</p><p>Then, when they were almost there, Gus accidentally kicked against a pebble. Causing it to ricochet of the ground and hitting the slumbering beast. the big beast let out a screech and rose up in response to being rudely awakened. The three witches quickly backed up as it seemed to rise onto four legs. Eda was big, that much was sure. she also seemed to be covered in white and gray feathers. It then turned around, facing them with a growl.</p><p>It’s facial features sure didn’t make it look any less threatening, as it had long and feathery ears and fangs protruding from it’s mouth, and pitch black eyes.</p><p>But despite all that, it had a very familiar face.</p><p>“Eda!” Amity called out. “Miss Eda are you still there?!”</p><p>All she got as a response was a feral snarl and a swipe of a claw, which she just managed to step back from. “Please, we’re trying to help you.”</p><p>But the beast wouldn’t listen as it tried to get to get to them again, it’s neck chain rattled as it tried to lunge. But as it was nailed into the floor, the cursed witch couldn’t come any closer and got stopped mid air, causing her to crash into the ground.</p><p>As she scrambled up, Willow tried to approach her. “Please Eda. It’s us. don’t you recognize-“</p><p>She was cut of as the was pulled back by Gus as the beast tried to swipe at her. “Look out! That may be Eda, but she’s obviously not herself.”</p><p>Amity frowned determinedly as she watch the Owl Lady. “Then we’ll just have to remind her.” and without any hesitation, she started making her way towards the feral witch.</p><p>“Amity! Wait!” Willow called out as she reached out towards her. “It’s too risky!”</p><p>But the witch continued to take step after step. When she got close enough the Owl Beast noticed her approach and growled threateningly. A slight shiver shot down her spine, she was after all going near a thing that could kill her with one strike. But despite that, she kept going. She walked until she was about two and a half meters away from her and then confronted the transformed witch. “Miss Eda,” she calmly spoke. “I know that somewhere underneath all of those feathers, you’re still there. You have to fight it!” she got a growl as a response.</p><p>As she took a few steps closer, the cursed witch swung at her again. But fortunately for the Blight she had anticipated this and an abomination sprung up in front of her, catch the arm mid swing.</p><p>“You need to come back to us!” the witch continued. “If you don’t, then you’ll be a statue for the rest of your life and we won’t be able to reverse it! to not even mention that there are people out there who believe in you, people who need you!” there was still no reaction outside of the hostile growling and snarls. “Bonesborough needs you! We need you! Even your sister still needs you!” Amity shouted.</p><p>“Luz needs you!”</p><p>That seemed to trigger something in the beast as it suddenly fell silent. It’s eyes seemed to slightly widen in recognition. “Luz?”</p><p>she then grabbed at her head and let out a painful agony filled  screech. The young witches covered their ears at the tone and volume. This went on for a few seconds, until the head dropped down and the eyes opened, revealing white eyes with golden irises. “Ugh, last time I do that.” She muttered.</p><p>“Miss Eda!”</p><p>“Eda!”</p><p>The witch looked up as she heard their voices. “You three?!” the turned witch called out, recognizing the trio. “What are you doing here?!”</p><p>Willow was the one to answer. “We’re here to get you out of course. We couldn’t just let you get petrified like that.”</p><p>“Ugh, you really shouldn’t be here. you three need to leave, now! ”</p><p>“Not without you.” Amity commented. “Now let me get that chain of off you.”</p><p>“Be my guest.” Eda respond nonchalantly. “But I don’t think you’ll get very far.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that.” Amity said with a confident smile as she created a fireball and flung it at the chain, just like how she had done with the lock on the door. but instead of breaking or melting, it glowed light blue, nullifying the magical fire. “What?!” she threw another fireball, and another, and another. But all of them met the same result.</p><p>“Give it up kid.” Eda said as she shook her head. “this thing is unbreakable.”</p><p>Gus groaned. “why can’t things just be easy around here?!”</p><p>“I can try to break it with my vines?” Willow proposed. But Eda shook her head again.</p><p>“Spare your magic. If it could be broken through physical strength I would have been out of here already.”</p><p>Amity walked back and forth with her hands in her hair “this bad! Very bad!”</p><p>“Hey. Hey! Listen!” Eda interrupted her panicking. “It’s my fault that I’m here, and I’m willing to take the punishment for it.”</p><p>“w-w-why?” Amity exclaimed. “Why would you say that? Have you already given up?!”</p><p>“Well, think about my situation here.” Eda explained. “I’m bound to the ground with an practically unbreakable chain, I can’t use my magic and I now know that my years of suffering are caused by my own sister. that doesn’t really give you the motivation to go on.”</p><p>“But she didn’t mean to.” Willow commented. “She told us herself.”</p><p>The witch scoffed. “And that gives you’re a reason to believe her? she’s just trying to come up with excuses!”</p><p>“Okay, but what about Luz?” Gus argued back. “She’ll be heart broken when she finds out what happened to you!”</p><p>Willow noticed how the Owl Lady had winced at the mention of the human. “She-She’ll hopefully get over me. There isn’t much that I can do right now. She can live on without me.”</p><p>“But-But-“ Amity stuttered. “We need your help to free her. If she’s still in the Emperor’s castle then we need help from a powerful witch.”</p><p>Eda shook her head. “If you’re smart, you stay away from there. It’s even more guarded then this place and if you get caught you’ll be in jail for the next five years. And that’s if you’re lucky.” She let out a sigh. “But if you do decide to go, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out without me there.” She obviously wanted to get rid of the subject as fast as possible.</p><p>The teens wanted to protest, but the women cut them off.</p><p>“Look, enough about that. I need you three to do something for me.” Eda then reached into her hair and pulled out a key. “here.” the cursed witch said as she handed it over. “Get this to safety.”</p><p>“What is it?” Gus asked her. “except for, you know, a key?”</p><p>“It’s something that Belos desperately wants, so prevent him from getting it at all costs.” Eda explained. “You have to believe me. If he gets his grabby hands on this, who knows what will happen.”</p><p>The boy nodded determinedly. “Don’t worry Eda. We’ll protect it with everything we’ve got.”</p><p>“good to hear.” Eda said with a small smile. ”It feels good to know that it will be in capable hands.”</p><p>“Eda?” Willow spoke up, attracting the others attention.</p><p>“What is it kid?”</p><p>“Luz is in trouble, isn’t she?”</p><p>A silence fell over the room,</p><p>“I…don’t know why you would think that.” the women responded. “I haven’t seen her for days on end, so I honestly have no idea.”</p><p>Willow frowned. “Why do I have a feeling that you’re not telling us the truth?”</p><p>“Willow, what are you saying?” Gus asked.</p><p>“What I’m saying is that Eda knowns where Luz is and that she’s keeping it hidden from us! when we mentioned Luz she seemed very reluctant to talk about her own student. To not even mention that she told us to <em>not </em>go looking for her.”</p><p>Amity looked from her friend to the tied up witch. “Is that true?” she asked, desperate. “Do you know where Luz is?”</p><p>The Owl Lady averting her gaze from them was answer enough.</p><p>“I knew it.” Willow spoke.</p><p>“Why!?” The Blight shouted in disbelief. “Why would you keep something like this hidden? You know we care about her!”</p><p>Eda grumbled. “And that’s exactly why I don’t want to tell you.”</p><p>“Because you know that we’ll get in trouble by going after her?” Gus retorted.</p><p>“It’s more complicated then you think!”</p><p>“well then explain it to us! We’re her friends, aren’t we!” The plant witch called out.</p><p>Eda let out a sigh as she looked away from the younger witches. “it’s just that-“</p><p>She then got interrupted by a loud beeping and a bright red light from the ceiling. The teens looked around in shock. Had they been caught? “What is going on?!” Willow exclaimed as a gate opened up in the ceiling.</p><p>It was at that moment that Eda’s neck chain started to glow. Having a good guess on what was going on, the witch quickly pushed Amity away. No sooner had she done that, the chain and collar had disappeared and a cage made of blue energy formed around the cursed women.</p><p>“What!?” Gus called out as he looked at his watch, realizing what was going on. “but the petrification isn’t supposed to start for another ten minutes!” his eyes widened in realization. “That was what those guards were talking about!”</p><p>“seems like they didn’t want to wait anymore!” the plant witch reacted.</p><p>The platform that Eda stood on then started rising up towards the hole. “Nonononono!” Amity shouted as she watched her crush’s mentor rise up to her doomed fate. she then turned towards the abomination she had summoned earlier. “Abomination, stop that elevator!”</p><p>The goop creature groaned as it walked forward. It then launched its arms at the stone plateau and grabbed a hold of it. As the abomination dug its heels into the ground, the cage came to a groaning halt. “Now guys!” the witch called out. “we’ve got a bridge!”</p><p>As the kids started to climb up the purple creature’s arms, the trapped witch frowned. As much as it would hurt them, both physically and mentally, she knew what she had to do.</p><p>Letting out a sigh, she said. “I can’t let you do this.” And then with her sharp talons, she cut the abomination’s limbs clean off, causing the teens to fall. Luckily for them they hadn’t gotten very far up and landed on the ground with a thud.</p><p>“Sorry kidos.” Eda said remorsefully. “But I can’t risk you three getting hurt, or worse.”</p><p>“No! Wait!” The green haired witch called out desperately. But the cursed women didn’t hear her anymore as she disappeared from view and the elevator closed the gate with a deep thump.</p><p>Amity collapsed onto her knees looking at the ceiling where the doomed witch had disappeared. Any hope disappearing from her eyes as small tears had started to gather. Any changes of rescuing Eda, rescuing Luz, vaporizing in her mind. And even if they managed to get to Luz, how would she react, knowing that her loving mentor had been turned into a statue and that they could have done something about it. she would be shattered.</p><p>Gus meanwhile stared up as well with wide eyes, disbelief present everywhere. He covered his mouth in shock. It had been going so well, why did it have to end like this?</p><p>Willow stood of to the side and slammed her fist into the wall out of frustration. <em>‘we were so dang close!</em></p><p>And there the trio was, sulking in their own guilt and feeling of failure.</p><p>Suddenly the doors flew open and Lilith ran in. As she saw the absence of a certain Owl Beast, she cussed. “Damn it! I’m too late.” She then took notice of the small group. “But It’s good that you three are still here.” she said as she quickly walked towards them. “Listen we need to-“</p><p>“You, are not going to do anything.”</p><p>The three witches looked over at the young Blight, who had her back turned towards them as she stood up. “I don’t understand.”</p><p>“You said that we would be able to get to her in time! You said that everything would turn out alright, that we would save her! You told us that you would warn us if there was a change!” Amity shouted as she turned around to face her teacher. The witch seemed to have completely lost it in hopelessness.</p><p>“You gave us false hope and now we’re never going to get to either Eda or Luz!” In her anger, the young witch summoned an abomination next to her. “And right after Eda is gone, you show up! Very convenient! Was that whole sob story about wanting to help your sister just made up?!”</p><p>Her abomination lunged at the older witch, making her call up a barrier. As the purple being’s fists hit the energy shield, Lilith winced. While she was stronger then the girl and had more experience, Amity’s powers were fueled with anger. Causing her spells and abominations to become stronger then normal. It didn’t help either that the teen was magically very powerful from nature. It would only be a matter of time until her barrier would collapse.</p><p>“Amity, no! I swear that I want to help Edalyn as much as you do.” Lilith explained desperately as the abomination kept slamming into the shield. “I didn’t know that this would happen. Even I was surprised when I was finally informed, and even then I had to get the information by asking a passing guard. From the moment I knew, I immediately tried to reach the three of you as fast as possible. You have to believe me.”</p><p>The abomination witch huffed, but called her abomination to a stop. “Yeah? And how do I know that you’re not lying all of a sudden?!” she snapped. “You already betrayed your own sister, so why would betraying us be such a hard task for you?!”</p><p>The older women thought for a moment, wanting to actually prove that she didn’t have anything to do with the current circumstances.  Then, it popped into her head. She closed her eyes and started drawing a spell circle in the air, causing the other witches to back up in case of an attack.</p><p>But instead of anything violent, a very familiar staff and palisman appeared in her hands. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be giving you this.”</p><p>“Owlbert!” Willow and Gus exclaimed.</p><p>It took a second for Amity to recognize it as the Owl Lady’s staff, as she had seen it briefly during Grom night.</p><p>She slowly walked up to the raven haired witch as the women dispelled her barrier, and slowly took the two things from her. And the moment Owlbert was in her hands, he woke up. Blinking briefly, he got up and flew up onto the Blight’s shoulder. He then started cooing as he nuzzled her face.</p><p>Seeing this, Willow let out a small laugh. “Luz always said that Owlbert had a great judge of character.”</p><p>Amity smiled as the owl palisman rubbed itself into her cheek. It was nice to have a source of positivity around right now.  Her mood then shifted as she looked at her mentor.</p><p>“You really didn’t know, did you?” the girl asked as she looked up at the women.</p><p>Lilith shook her head. “If I had known, I would have informed the three of you immediately. I promise.”</p><p>This made Amity rub the back of her neck as she dispelled her abomination. “Okay, now I feel like a jerk.”</p><p>“Oh don’t take it like that Amity. Honestly, it’s an understandable mistake.” The Clawthorne sister admitted. “I have done so many wrongs, it’s more than normal that people wouldn’t trust me.”</p><p>“Uhm, not to interrupt anything.” Gus spoke up. “But what are we going to do now?”</p><p>“I was asking myself the same thing.” Willow said in agreement. “Now that’s she’s up there it will be impossible to do anything.”</p><p>“But we can’t just give up!” Amity called out, regaining a hint of courage. “We can’t let our efforts go to waste! There has to be another way.” Owlbert hooted in agreement.</p><p>“But how do we get there? The moment we try something we will be surrounded by guards!” Gus exclaimed.</p><p>“I may have an idea of how we can get to her in time. It’s our only hope,” The older witch proposed.</p><p>The Blight looked at her friends, who each nodded in agreement. She also threw a glance at the palisman on her shoulder, who gave a little nod of his own, followed by him taking his spot on the staff. Looking at the raven haired witch, Amity spoke as she put her mask back on. “Then lead the way.”</p><p> </p><p>A few minutes later, the group was making their way through a massive cavern. It was enormous and the were lucky that they were able to see anything, even though that didn’t make it much better. Giant statues were everywhere. Each of them towering over them and holding some golden weapon. They looked like angels or something, which didn’t make them any les intimidating. Weird reddish brown vines crawled over the walls, pillars and statues, like veins.</p><p>Gus shivered as he looked around. “can we go back upstairs?” he asked. “there it is a happy party compared to this.”</p><p>Lilith shook her head. “I get what you’re saying, but that isn’t possible. This is the only way to get to my sister unseen.”</p><p>As the small group walked further, Amity sped up a little bit so she walked next to her former mentor. “Uhm, Miss Lilith? I’m, again, sorry for accusing you back there. I completely lost it for a second.” The girl groaned in frustration. “It’s just that…. a lot as been going on recently, and I guess that was the last drop needed to break me. I snapped at you, without thinking about how you would feel. I shouldn’t have reacted to you in that way and I’m incredibly sorry.” But the older witch waved it off.</p><p>“Don’t worry Amity. I fully get understand your reaction, and I actually deserve way worse.” She frowned as she turned to look at the ground. “Besides, I should be the one apologizing.” Amity looked at her, confused. “I have never really said sorry for the whole cheating situation at the convention. I still remember how betrayed you looked when Edalyn pulled the power glyph of your neck. And you were fully in your right to ignore me after that.”</p><p>“I’m not gonna lie, I’m still kind off upset about it.” The girl admitted. She then rubbed the back of her neck. “Buuut, that was weeks ago. and you’re really trying to improve yourself, and I admire that.” She then smirked at the older women. “Besides, I know all to well how competitive a person can get when facing their siblings. I have a lot of personal experience.” She said like it was an achievement.</p><p>That got a chuckle from Lilith. “I…. Thanks Amity.”</p><p>“No problem.” After a moment of silence, the young Blight then started twiddling her thumbs. “Uhm, And, If you want to, I would, kind of, like to have you as my mentor again. But only if-“</p><p>“I would like that.” The women softly interrupted with a genuine smile. “I would be honored to take you as my student once again.”</p><p>Before Amity could say anything, Gus suddenly spoke up.</p><p>“Is that it?”</p><p>The two witches looked at where the boy was pointing and saw a small set of stairs. Lilith let out a relieved sigh. They had actually made it.</p><p>“yes, it is.”</p><p>“this elevator will bring you three onto the podium” Lilith explained as they reached the top of the stone stairs. In front of them was a big marble plateau. “When you’re there, block the petrification statue, and try to break open the cage. And when she’s free, get out of here immediately.”</p><p>“wait,” Willow called out as she looked at the witch. “you’re not coming with us?” Lilith shook her head.</p><p>“I have to stay here and keep an eye on the Emperor. Someone has to prevent this from happening again.”</p><p>After a bit of hesitation, the teens nodded in understanding. As Willow and Gus stepped onto the platform, Amity turned towards her teacher one last time.</p><p>“Please, take care.” She begged.</p><p>“I will.” Lilith responded with a soft smile. The young girl nodded, and then stepped on next to her friends.</p><p>Right as the women was about to send them upstairs, Amity’s ears twitched as she faintly noticed a weird sound. “What was that?!” the Blight exclaimed, holding Owlbert at the ready. The group instantly tensed up and looked around frantically, none of them noticed the fleshy vines crawling over the floor towards them.</p><p>Until it was too late.</p><p>Lilith screamed as she was suddenly pulled up in the air. Wrapped around her legs were those weird looking red vines, holding her up.</p><p>“Lilith!”</p><p>As the witch come to a stop in the air, flames lit up, illuminating part of the dark dungeon.</p><p> And at the back of the wall, stood a throne which seemed to be made out of teeth and jaws. And on it, sat the Emperor himself. The teens felt chills go down their backs as he just sat there, looking at them all.</p><p>“Ah, Lilith.” He spoke. “You really need to pick your sides better, don’t you?”</p><p>“Let her go!” Amity desperately shouted, followed by agreements from her friends. All it did was make the Emperor turn towards them.</p><p>“quiet children. The adults are talking.” He then looked back towards Lilith like they weren’t even there.</p><p>“You do seem to actually care about your sister, even after all that you’ve done to her.” he calmly said. “If you care that much, how about you go and keep your sister company in her last moments.” Belos spoke as the veins started to rise. Lilith started to struggle harder. She wanted to get to her sister, but not like that!</p><p>“NO, YOU WON’T!”</p><p>Next thing anyone knew, a fireball shot through the air, striking the vein. It exploded upon impact, causing it to rip in two and to drop Lilith, making her scream in fear. As the witch was approaching the ground, a large flower erupted from it, catching her, which then brought her back over to the teens.</p><p>“Huh.” The man reacted. “seems like there <em>are </em>people who care for you after all.”</p><p>Amity glared his way, not that he could see or even cared. she then turned back towards her mentor. “Are you okay?”</p><p> Lilith stiffly nodded with wide eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” She then got up with the help of Willow and faced towards her former boss. “Belos, stop this. You should realize that this isn’t right!”</p><p>“Says the one who ropes children into her cause to fight.” He then spoke towards Willow, Gus and Amity. “What did she promise you? candy? Free magic lessons? Or did she threaten to curse you and your families?” the raven haired women shot a heated look at him.</p><p>Willow huffed. “she doesn’t need to give us anything! We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do!”</p><p>“YEAH!” Gus added as he pumped his fist into the air. “And nothing you do will change our minds.”</p><p>He shook his head. “You three should know that you have nothing to do with this. This is between me, Lilith and the Owl Lady.” He then looked straight at them. “so I’ll cut you a deal: I can guess that you met up with the Owl Lady before she was brought upstairs. She has something that I want and I have a feeling she wouldn’t be dumb enough to keep it on her person. So give it to me, and I’ll let you go back to your normal lives.”</p><p>The teens’ eyes widened and Gus briefly thought back towards the key Eda had given him. with that, they would be saved from any pain or agony, he could save them. he then remembered what the women had told him when she handed it over. <em>‘If he gets his grabby hands on this, who knows what will happen.’</em> The boy knew what had to be done. “I’m sorry, but you must be mistaken. We have no such object. And even if we did, we wouldn’t give it to you.”</p><p>“hm, quite disappointing.” He responded like they were just a few annoying insects who were easy to squash. “Seems like I’m going to need to pay a visit to the Owl House after this is all over. Seeing that you have no use for me then, I’ll have to get rid of all of you instead.</p><p> But, lets make it more interesting: If I win, every single one of you will surrender and will be put in the dungeons until I decide what to do with you all.” He then pointed at the group.</p><p>“And if we win?” Amity asked, skeptical.</p><p>“If you win, I’ll let the Owl Lady go.” the group of four raised their eyebrows. “So, do we have a deal?”</p><p>“Do you really have no heart?!” Lilith argued before any of the kids could respond. “they’re just teens Belos, leave them out of this.”</p><p>The man let out a single dark laugh. “Oh, but I won’t be doing anything to them. I have someone else to do that for me.”</p><p>Amity cocked her head in confusion. “What do you mea-?” footsteps could be heard coming from behind the Emperor’s throne.</p><p>“Four against one. Not a fair fight if you ask me.” Someone spoke.</p><p>The group looked around until they spotted someone stepping out of the shadows behind the jaw throne.</p><p>Out of the shadows came a figure wearing the signature cloak of the Emperor’s coven. But their mask was, instead of the all to familiar grey raven, a golden owl. None of the teens noticed Lilith wince when they appeared, her face becoming a hurt grimace.</p><p>“Allow me to even the odds.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so, this chapter wasn't that easy. for a certain amount of time I has sitting n front of my computer with my hands in my hair, not knowing what to do.<br/>But I managed it.<br/>I expect the next one to be easier to write, so that one might not take almost two weeks to complete.<br/>ANyway Hope You Emjoyed.<br/>Leave Any comments Down Below.<br/>Hope To See You All Next Time. :)<br/>Gr Elementalwriter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Fight for the Owl (part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this note is to everyone who has waited for this chapter to come out.<br/>I'M INCREDIBLY SORRY!<br/>a lot has happend and it really slowed down the writing process.</p><p>I'll explain it all in the end notes.<br/>anyway, I'm really nervous about this chapter, and honestly, I think it could have been better.</p><p>despite the delay and the possible lower quality, I hope you enjoy. :)</p><p>BTW: check out 'The Meaning of Honesty.' here on AO3. I know one of the people who made it, and I can personally say that I really like it and that they put a lot of work into it. Don't believe me? go check for yourself.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 7.</p><p> </p><p>At the main square of the Conformatorium, the people were still busy shouting to let the Owl Lady go, and it had only gotten louder since the women herself had appeared in the cage. But none of them realized that below them, in a dark space, a battle would be fought out for the freedom of Edalyn Clawthorne.</p><p>Inside the cavern itself, the two parties looked at each other, neither saying a word.</p><p>On one side sat Emperor Belos on his throne with the mysterious figure next to him. And on the other side were Lilith, Amity, Willow and Gus. While Belos sat relaxed on his throne and the figure just seemed to look at them, Amity, Willow and Gus were incredibly nervous.</p><p>And they had every right to be as they would be facing of against the ruler over the entire Boiling Isles, who was also the strongest witch alive. To not even mention the masked person standing next to him, who was a complete wildcard. Who knew what they were capable of as they were the capable off, seeing that they seemed to be close to Belos.</p><p>The silence lived on for a few more moments, until Gus spoke up, breaking the ice. “Who are you?” The figure laughed with mirth.</p><p>“Oh, my name doesn’t matter here.” they spoke. “All you need to know is that I’m the one who’s gonna make sure that you won’t get out of here.” The person challenged with bravado.</p><p>“This,” Belos said as he pointed at the masked figure, who proudly stood with their arms crossed. “Is my soon to be apprentice. She’s also the upcoming new leader of my coven now that Lilith has decided to side against me.” He faintly shrugged. “It’s not like she wasn’t going to get replaced anyway, but I had expected it to take longer then this. That I would’ve been able to properly train her first.”</p><p>“Pleased to meet you all.” The masked student said with a mocking bow. “Well, except Lilith of course, I already know her.” Amity could feel the figure smile under their mask as they stood back up. “Oh, and by the way, thanks for telling me about all of this. Without you this probably wouldn’t have been possible. You would have actually escaped with the Owl Lady.” She cocked her head in amusement. “Isn’t that ironic? You ruined your own plan.”</p><p>Lilith completely froze, and she started getting nervous as the teens turned to look at her. While she could not see their faces, she knew that they were glaring at her.</p><p>“You did WHAT!?” they shouted.</p><p>“I didn’t tell her anything about the plan, I swear!” Lilith desperately explained. “I just told her that there was another way to go about all of this. A better way.”</p><p>The figure laughed. “Oh, come, on. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you were planning something. From there all I had to do was get you and anyone you could be working with together in one place.” She spread her arms. “And as you can see that worked pretty well.”</p><p>Amity groaned, incredibly annoyed by her mentor’s actions. “Why would you even try that with the student of the Emperor? What good would that have done for us?!” she reasoned. “Also, don’t you think that they had obviously already made their choice!? Or did you forget about them being the Emperor’s student!?”</p><p><em>‘If only you knew Amity.’ </em>Lilith thought. ‘<em>if only you knew who was actually behind that mask, then you would understand.’ </em>She frowned as she looked at the masked figure who she knew was her sister’s former student. <em>‘But I have to keep it from you until the time is right. You’re not ready for it yet. Besides, now is not the best time.’</em></p><p>“I honesty thought that you still had something good in you and that you would make the right choice.” She grumbled. “guess I was wrong there.”</p><p>Luz shrugged “well, depends on how you look at it. For me, I made the right choice, but for you I didn’t. soooo, yeah.”</p><p>Amity frowned as she looked back at the Emperor’s student. Somehow, something about them seemed, weirdly familiar. She just couldn’t pinpoint what. But she shouldn’t focus on that right now.</p><p> The girl threw a brief look at Lilith and spoke. “we’ll talk about that whole ‘trusting the Emperor’s student’ later.” She said. as she got in a dueling stance. “Now we’ve got something else to worry about.” And next to her, her friends followed her example.</p><p>“Huh, so you’re not just surrendering.” The masked human called out, followed by a nod of approval. “you’re brave and I admire that. I really do.” She then jumped down, so she was at equal level with them. “But there is a thin line between brave and just straight up dumb.” Luz said as she took a combat stance as well.</p><p>“Seems like it’s a battle between the younger generation.” Belos said with a hint of sick amusement. “That leaves us two.” He directed towards Lilith.</p><p>“Then so be it.” the raven-haired women responded as she summoned her staff at her side. “ I have something worth fighting for, so don’t expect me to go easy on you old man!”</p><p>“Then let us fight.” The Emperor said as he called up his own staff. “The rules are simple: You’re allowed to use any type of magic in this duel except dark magic. And the duel is over until either the opponent is unconscious, unable to fight further due to injury or surrenders.” He then looked Lilith in the eyes. “And don’t worry about your dear sister. I send a message to Kikimora beforehand, telling her to wait until I’m there and this is over.” After a second of silence, he spoke again. “Now, before we begin, we may want to look for a more private place.” he then pointed his staff at the teens. “we don’t want to come in between the young one’s duel, now do we?” with some hesitation, Lilith nodded.</p><p>Belos then walked up next to his student and spoke. “Remember what we talked about?”</p><p>She nodded. “No showing or showing off. Just finish it.”</p><p>“Good. Do what you must to stop them.”</p><p>Lifting his staff, the red orb glowed brightly and both him and Lilith were surrounded in a red colored aura. Then, in a flash of light, they were gone. Leaving the teens behind.</p><p>“what did he mean with ‘No showing?’” Gus asked, ever the curious one.</p><p>Luz smirked under her mask. “Oh, that’s something between me and him, so don’t you think to much about it.” The human activated a fire glyph behind her back, creating a fireball. “Besides, you’ve got more important things to worry about!” She then flung it at her three opponents, starting the witches duel.</p><p> </p><p>Further down the cavern, Emperor Belos and Lilith came back into existence. The female witch stood ready for anything the man could throw at her with a heated look on her face. Belos meanwhile juts stood there, barely moving and appeared to not even be a single bit nervous. They just stood there, waiting for the other to do anything.</p><p>Seconds ticked by, and neither moved a muscle. A slight bit of sweat rolled down Lilith’s brow as she thought about the upcoming battle. she knew who she was up against and knew that he was able to overpower her without too much effort, but she had to try. she couldn’t back down now.</p><p>Not when her little sister needed her the most and she could finally be there for her.</p><p>“You’ve got guts, accepting my challenge like that.” Belos spoke calmly.</p><p>“Well what other choice did I have? I can’t just let my sister get petrified like that.”</p><p>The masked man shook his head. “Your sister is a wild witch Lilith. And we can’t have those walking around here. Wild witches are a danger to the people of the Isles. their magic is uncontrolled and they spread chaos and destruction everywhere.</p><p>It’s the Titan’s will that the Isles shall be cleansed of the Wild Witches and their magic, and I just fulfil his needs.”</p><p>Lilith glared at him. “Oh stop it! You literally use that whole ‘it’s the Titan’s will’ excuse for everything you do. Not only is it getting old, but you have also never even proven that you can actually talk to it!”</p><p>“how dare you talk to me like that!” Belos reacted. “I’m the one who got you this far, I’m the one who brought you fame and power.”</p><p>“And in exchange for what?! My sister’s freedom and happiness! If I had known this, I wouldn’t have jumped at the chance of getting in your ridiculous coven. I would have avoided it with every fiber in my body.” Lilith shot him a look of disgust. “I would rather spend years being a criminal with my sister, then serve you one more day!</p><p>And after I’m done with you, I’m going back for the human girl. I’ll free her from whatever mind control you put on her!”</p><p>She frowned in confusion as the Emperor let out a dark chuckle at that.</p><p>“You must be confused.” The man said calmly, which just made Lilith angrier. ”I haven’t done anything like that. All I actually did was give her a little push.”</p><p>“oooh, sure.” Lilith said as she rolled her eyes. “That’s why she completely changed her entire character from a nice and innocent girl to a soldier.” She huffed. “Grow up Belos, you really think that I’m that dumb?! She isn’t acting like herself at all!”</p><p>“Oh, Lilith. Naïf little Lilith. What makes you think that she’s not acting like herself?” the man responded, confusing the women. “Who says that this isn’t her?”</p><p>“B-But..Wh-wha..yo-you, You’re not making any sense here!” she huffed. “How could that possibly be her?!”</p><p>“Well, I honestly didn’t expect you to understand it anyway.” He answered. “” The red orb on his staff started glowing once again. “But I think I have said enough. We’re here to duel, are we not?”</p><p>Lilith frowned as she got back in her battle stance. “Ready when you are old man.” She wasn’t exactly satisfied with the answer she got, but it would have to do.</p><p>Not waiting for an answer, Lilith lunged at him. seeing the women run at him, Belos responded with a bunch of concentrated energy blasts. The raven-haired women however jumped over and ran around them like it was nothing.</p><p>Then with precision, she shot an explosive blast towards the masked man. The Emperor watched on as the blast flew over his head and smirked under his mask. What he didn’t see though was that it instead impacted with the statue behind him, causing a cloud of dust to come down on him.</p><p>Temporarily blinded, he didn’t see Lilith line up a shot and blast him in the stomach. The man grunted as he stepped back.</p><p>Seeing the Emperor still distracted by the hit, the Clawthorne continued her assault with a lightning shock. The man’s body convulsed as the volts went through him. she then launched a bunch of mini orbs once the lightning stopped. The all surrounded Belos in a circle, and then exploded in a chain reaction.</p><p>Not wasting a single second, she then teleported herself into the air above him and dove down towards him, staff ready to beat his skull in.</p><p>However, right as the staff was about to impact on his head, something stopped her dead in her tracks. Lilith’s eyes widened as she noticed the faint red glow surrounding her body and Belos looking at her with a glint in his eyes, a red glow coming from one of his fingers. then, with her still in his grip, he swung his arm out to the side, sending Lilith careening through to air.</p><p>She cried out when her back impacted one of the many statues, and groaned as she fell on the ground. Despite the pain, she shakily but surely got back up, just in time to see Belos grabbing his staff firmly.</p><p>“Enough fooling around.” The Emperor said as he cracked his neck. He looked, fine. He wasn’t panting or groaning from pain. All that showed that he was even hit were some burn marks and dust on his cloak. Lilith gulped, but still steeled her gaze, sharing his statement.</p><p>They then simultaneously let out a blast of magical energy, causing the two forcing to clash with each other in the middle. This resulted in a big explosion, kicking up dust and pieces of debris everywhere.</p><p>Lilith covered her eyes for protection against the wind caused by the impact. small pebbles struck her, but didn’t really do anything. When it became calm once again, she looked again. A wall of dust and smoke hung in the air, almost making it unable to see anything for her.</p><p>“You’re powerful, I’ll give you that.” The women quickly looked around as she heard her former boss’s voice. “But then again, I shouldn’t expect any less from my former coven leader. And a Clawthorne at that.”</p><p>As the dust started to clear, the silhouette of the Emperor appeared. The raven-haired witch quickly turned and launched a fire blast in his direction. The mist broke up were the projectile flew. Lilith grinned as the blazing ball had almost reached it’s target. However, silhouette vanished when the projectile broke up the mist and hit one of the statues instead. An ominous, emotionless laugh followed.</p><p>He was playing with her.</p><p>“Show yourself coward!” the witch shouted as she hit the ground with the butt of her staff, causing strong winds to kick up, removing the last parts of deep fog. She looked over the battlefield in search for her opponent,  her eyes wide when she saw that the point were the two spells had hit each other, a big crater had formed.</p><p>And Belos was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>“you know.” Lilith spun around as the voice came from behind her. No one there. “If you had just stayed with the coven, then you could have achieved even greater greatness then you already had.”</p><p>The women scoffed. “Not like it would matter. the moment Luz would be ready she would take my place and I would be thrown out like old junk.”</p><p>“Oh, but Lilith, you misunderstand.” He replied, his voice coming from behind her again. “As long as people have use for me, I’ll keep them with me.” the female witch turned around again. Still nothing. “And seeing that I have no use for you anymore, I’ll have to rid myself from you.” He then walked out from behind one of the many statues, a finger with a glowing red orb at the tip pointed right at the witch. “permanently.”</p><p>From the small point of light shot a bolt of red lightning, heading straight for the women’s back. Hearing his voice and the crackling of the approaching bolt behind her, she instinctively dived out of the way, dodging the projectile by a hair. As she turned around to fire a shot back, he had disappeared again.</p><p>A shot could be heard from her left, and the moment she looked she saw a fireball heading her way. Luckily for her she had managed to throw up a magic barrier, blocking the shot from hitting it’s target. She grunted from the impact as cracks formed in the shield. No sooner had she stopped it, or another one flew at her, this time from the right, making her move her barrier. Then another followed from behind, and a fourth one come from above. The pattern was completely random and because of that she was forced to almost guess were they would be coming from. As a way of keeping her safe, she expanded her shield into a bubble shield, protecting herself on all sides.</p><p>This however seemed to encourage the Emperor into breaking her shield even more as the rate of fire picked up greatly. A rain of blazing fireballs came from all directions and the raven-haired witch strained to keep her barrier up. The small infernos caused great impact damage to her barrier, forcing her to constantly make new layers to the shield to replace the damaged ones. The women knew that this way she would be out of magic in only a few minutes. She had to get out of there, and fast.</p><p>As the blasts kept hitting her shield, she tried to come up with a plan. She looked around for anything, anything at all.  However all she saw were the massive statues covered in those weird vines and the deep darkness waiting further down the cavern.</p><p>Her gaze briefly paused, before it landed on her staff.</p><p>If she was able to distract Belos long enough, she could use Sapphire to get out of there and find a hiding spot, allowing her to catch her breath and possibly regain some magic. However, she knew she would only have one chance at this. And if she failed, she’d be nothing more then an open target for the man and it would all be over. She had to find the perfect moment to strike. So for now, Lilith patiently waited and tried to keep her barrier up.</p><p>For the next few minutes, the women was unable to find any openings. Until she noticed that the impacts on her shield halted for a few seconds until they continued. Counting the shots, she saw a pattern.</p><p>Each fifteenth shot, there was a small break before the next blast came. It was only a second or two, but it should be long enough for her to be able to cause a distraction. Once the next pause came, she started counting the shots in her head. ‘<em>one. Two. Three. Four.-‘ </em>When she reached twelve, she prepared herself to flee.</p><p>And so, once the fifteenth shot was fired and the blasts stopped, she took her chance. Quickly dispelling her protective bubble, she raised her staff and brought it down on the ground. This created a blinding flash of light, which the Emperor was not prepared for. Belos shouted in annoyance as he got temporarily blinded, giving Lilith the chance to run. She quickly jumped on her staff and shot off deeper into the cavern.</p><p>The cold wind rushed past her face as she flew through the dark cave, the adrenaline flowing through her system. So far the plan was going great. All she had to do now was get as far away from the masked creep as possible.</p><p>She flew for a few minutes until she was finally satisfied with the distance that she put in-between her and Belos. “Okay Sapphire, I think we’re safe.” She calmly told her palisman, who slowed down to a halt. As she stepped off with her staff in her hand, the women stayed quiet for a little while, listening for any signs of Belos.</p><p>Not hearing even the slightest bit of sound except her own breathing, she relaxed and leaned against the nearest statue. She let out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding and took a moment to rest.</p><p><em>‘I won’t be able to keep this up.’ </em>She thought to herself as she slid down the statue onto the ground. <em>‘If I don’t do something, I’ll end up collapsing and Edalyn and the kids will be lost.’</em> she looked around. everywhere she looked it was dark and statues stood like giant guardians, looking down on her.</p><p>As she listened to the silence around her, she thought back to the teens. she wanted to get back to them badly, even if it was just to ensure that they were safe. She felt responsible for them and their lives. She dragged them into this, so if something were to happen to them, she was to blame. But she had no idea were they were, as it was unclear as to were Belos had teleported them. She sighed as she looked around the cavern, seeing nothing but darkness and massive statues surrounding her.</p><p>
  <em>‘I hope that they’re doing better then I am.’</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>“Scatter!” Gus called out and they each went into a different direction, as the fireball came sailing down at them, creating a blazing fire as it hit the stone floor.</p><p>As Amity slid to a halt, she shot a projectile of her own at the human. To her great disappointment, they evaded it with relative ease, but despite that she kept on flinging them.</p><p>Gus meanwhile went for a more hands-on response and summoned a couple of comnat illusion copies to fight the student in hand to hand combat. They weren’t relatively strong, but they would do for now.</p><p>Luz smirked under her mask as she dodges the first ball of fire and blocked the other ones with a shielding glyph. As the blazing projectiles kept slamming into the energy barrier, she heard rapid footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw the clones closing in on her quickly.</p><p>Keeping her shield up, she readied herself for the assault.</p><p>The moment the first one was in range, it immediately went for a swing to the head, but the human ducked under it. She then quickly sprung back up and gave it an uppercut in the jaw. As the head on the illusion was knocked back, she grabbed its arm and pulled it in front of her as the next fireball struck, obliterating it.</p><p>The second copy didn’t do much better as it attacked with a kick, which got caught midair by the human. She then pulled it towards herself and kneed it in the stomach. Then with a strong punch to the face she finished it off.</p><p>The third one was maybe the dumbest of them all as it wanted to headbutt her. She simply moved to the side and delivered a blow with her shield. Dazed, it had no time to react when Luz went in for a quick punch in the stomach followed by a knee in the face. When it fell to the ground, it started to vanish just like the others.</p><p>As she turned back towards her original opponent, she just managed to block the next inferno orb.<em> ‘This way we’re getting nowhere.’ </em>She thought to herself. She then heard the sound of something flying through the air and was just in time to avoid getting hit by a pale blue orb of energy.</p><p>As she looked at where it had come from, she saw the smaller witch running up next to the fire throwing one, who briefly stopped as she saw her friend approach. Seeing them nod towards each other, Luz got ready for whatever they would throw at her. The two both drew their own spell circles, and once they were finished, Luz gulped once she saw the result.</p><p>Once his circle was complete, pale blue glowing orbs appeared all around Gus. And while they weren’t made out of fire or anything like that, there were many of them. then, with a snap of his fingers, they one by one shot of towards the disguised human.</p><p>Amity meanwhile was surrounded in a ring of fireballs which were starting to spin faster and faster until they looked like one blazing line. She then stuck out her hand towards Luz, sending the fireballs at her in rapid-fire. Each time that one of them left the circle, another one was created in its place, granting Amity infinite ammunition. It took a lot of her magic, but it was worth it.</p><p>The barrage shot over towards the human, looked directly at the storm about to hit her. and once the first one struck, it went down hill for her. Luz grunted as it exploded, immediately followed by another one, and another, and another. The attacks had such rapid force behind them that slowly but surely they were forcing her backwards. Luz then looked up as she heard a small crack and saw as slowly but surely, to the brunette’s horror, that her shield was starting to break, wide cracks crawling over the barrier.</p><p>As her shield continued to crack further and further, making the human starting to sweat, she tried to come up with a solution.</p><p>As long as those two were firing at her, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. And she couldn’t just wait until their magic reserves were gone, as her shield wouldn’t hold out that long. She was stuck.</p><p>At least, she thought so until her gaze went from the incoming projectiles, to her shield, to her opponents. Her eyes brightened as an idea came to her. It was incredibly stupid, and there was a high possibility that it wouldn’t work and cause her to lose.</p><p>But that’s exactly why they wouldn’t expect it.</p><p>And so, instead of just blocking the next fireball, she hit it back with her shield like it was a baseball. The two witches’ eyes widened as they saw it come back towards them and they quickly dove to the side. Sadly, they weren’t fast enough and got caught in the force of the blast, knocking both of them flat on the ground.</p><p>“Strike!” Luz called out as she saw the two witches slowly get up from the ground, groaning all the while. “Oh, Come on you two! You’ve got to have a little more then that in you!” She exclaimed as she dispelled her shield. She almost sounded offended. “I mean, you’d expect the witches who were selected by the Lilith Clawthorne herself to be more then just, this.” She shook her head as she created a fireball in each hand. “Honestly, I’m pretty disappointed in you two and-...” she paused as she came to a startling realization. “Hold up! Weren’t there originally three of y-?!”</p><p>She couldn’t even finish her sentence when she got rudely interrupted by the ground next to her bursting apart and revealing a cluster of thick vines, making her shout in surprise and lose her blazing projectiles. The plant lunged at her and she managed to sidestep it last second. But she didn’t get a break as it immediately went in for another try.</p><p>knowing she couldn’t dodge this one, she activated another barrier glyph and magic energy formed on her arm like a shield, stopping the plant from reaching her. Luz grunted in strain as she dug her heels into the ground, fighting against the strength of the roots, which kept slamming into her barrier, driving her back further and further.</p><p>Through the flailing vegetation, she was able to see the witch responsible standing with glowing circles around her wrists. If she wanted to get completely rid of this, she had to take her out.</p><p>Then, an orb of pale blue light sailed by her face, missing it by a hair. She pulled her eyes away from the attacking plant and saw Gus ready to throw another one.</p><p>Making a quick decision, she grabbed a glyph from the pouch on her belt and without looking which one it was she activated it and threw it at the plant cluster. ‘<em>come oooon, please be what I think you are!’</em></p><p>She grinned when the piece of paper turned into a blazing fireball and hit the vines dead on. In a matter of seconds, the entire thing was ablaze. Willow called out in distress when she saw her creation go up in flames.</p><p>Free of her attacker, Luz grabbed another glyph and slammed it on the ground. From it, stones started to rise up, heading directly for the plant witch.</p><p>Willow barely had any time to react as plant roots blasted up from the ground, heading straight for her. However, she was somehow able to summon another plant, which clashed with Luz’s. the two wrapped around each other and were it became a battle of strength.</p><p>The human however had different plans.</p><p>“Impressed?! You’re not the only one who can do plant magic!” Luz called out. then with a wave of her hand, a bunch of vines branched of the main one and shot off towards the plant witch. Willow’s eyes were big as it struck her in the chest, making her cry out in shock and pain. She was flung backwards and landed on the ground with a thud, groaning.</p><p>“No!” Amity called out as she saw her friend getting hit.</p><p>“Go!” Gus called out. “I’ll take care of this one.”</p><p>The Blight hesitated. She knew the boy was pretty powerful, but she didn’t want to risk him getting hurt, or worse. But seeing the determined shine in his eyes, she gave a nod and quickly took off towards the struck witch.</p><p>Luz smirked as she watched the girl sprint over to her friend. <em>‘two for one.’ </em>she thought as she created a fireball in the palm of her hand.</p><p>She was about to throw it and take them both out, when a glowing blue orb sailed past her face.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>She looked at were it had come from and saw the third member of their team standing there, blue orb in hand. “We’re not done yet!”</p><p>“Oh, but I think we are.” Luz responded as she shot a fire spell at the boy. But Gus was fast and moved out of the way and retaliated with his own projectile, which she dodged with ease.</p><p>“That all you got?!” he still taunted even though he missed.</p><p>The human smirked under her mask, admiring the boy’s bravery. “Oh, you just made a grave mistake.” She then charged at him.</p><p>Meanwhile Amity had reached her fallen friend, who lay on the ground groaning. “Willow,” she called out as she softly shook her. “Willow, are you okay?”</p><p>The witch opened her eyes, and saw the worried girl next to her. “I’m fine Amity.” She said as she tried to sit up. “Honestly, nothing’s wro-AH!” she reached for her chest as a painful sensation got send through it, sending her back to the floor.</p><p>The green haired witch looked at her friend with worry as she practically curled up in pain.. ‘<em>that can't be good.’</em> She then hesitantly reached out, but stopped right before she touched Willow and looked at her.</p><p>Seeming to understand what she wanted, the plant witch nodded, and slowly Amity put her hands on the witch's ribs.</p><p>At the little bit of pressure, Willow let out a hiss of agony almost instantly and the abomination witch pulled back. “I’m not a medical expert, but I’m pretty sure that you bruised some of your ribs, if not worse. You should stay here, for safety.”</p><p>The plant witch shook her head. “Not gonna happen Amity.” She said as she tried to get back up again, despite the protests from both Amity and her own body. As she opened her eyes, her gaze landed on Gus fighting the Emperor's student on his own. “You, Gus, Lilith and Eda need me. I can't just give up!”</p><p>“I know! But,” Amity tried to argue back. “you can't go back in like this! You'd be done for Willow!” She threw up her arms. “You are in no condition to fight at the moment. And of you get hit now it can only make it worse!”</p><p>“I know that Amity!” Willow called out. “But I won’t stop until the it’s over!” Amity was about to argue back that it would be way to dangerous, that she should take cover and lay down but then they both winced when an explosion went of and Gus shouted in distress. “Besides, I don't think we have a lot of options here.” The plant witch finished.</p><p>After a moment of thought, Amity groaned. “Fine.” She then reached for her injured leg and pulled on of the healing patches off, and then gave it to Willow.“ We’ll try to hold her off while you try and recover, okay?” her friend nodded. And with that confirmation, Amity ran off towards the brave illusionist who was still fighting with the disguised human.</p><p>Gus had called up some copies in an attempt to confuse the student, but she was having none of it and caused a strong wind to kick up. And seeing that the illusion themselves didn’t have any mass, they were blown backwards and dissipated as they either hit the ground or one of the statues. This resulted in Gus standing on his own.</p><p>But the boy didn’t give up and send some magical orbs flying at her. but those where just swatted to the side like annoying bugs.</p><p>“Do you really have nothing better then that?” The Emperor’s student spoke as she shook her head. “come on, there has to be more in you then this.” She grabbed an ice glyph from her pouch and made a small pillar of ice erupted from the ground, almost turning the boy into a witch popsicle. But the kid didn’t get any form of rest as it immediately followed up by a ball of fire, knocking him on the ground.</p><p> Amity’s eyes widened as she saw her friend go down and watched on as he slowly crawled back on his feet, while the human advanced on him. Each attack that he flung at her were either easily avoided or blocked by one of her barriers. And unless something intervened, Gus would suffer whatever the student wanted to do to him. Willow was still tending to her injury, so it all came down on the Blight. Her mind started to race as she tried to come up with something.</p><p>Her fireballs? Nah, they wouldn't really do anything as the student had proven that she was able to block them no problem, even in greater numbers. Sure, she could cause a distraction, but it wouldn’t be enough. Another option was that she could summon an abomination, but those would be too slow to do anything right now, let stand reach the masked girl in time. Her thoughts turned frantic as idea after idea was thrown out the window.</p><p>Desperately, she looked around the cave, looking for any possible answer, any clues, on what to do.</p><p>Right as she was losing hope, her eyes landed on a very familiar staff, laying forgotten on the ground. <em>‘Owlbert!’ </em></p><p>Seeing that Luz was still distracted by the illusionist, Amity went for it. Quickly making her way across, she slid to a halt and picked it up. This seemed to wake the palisman up as his eyes opened up and he hooted at her.</p><p>“Sorry little guy, must have dropped you when I got caught in the blast earlier.” She apologized. But the owl didn’t seem to mind. Owlbert then took a looked around and saw Willow on the ground, still recovering, while Gus was fending of the masked student with all his might. This made something in his eyes change as a determined glimmer sparked up in them. He then turned back towards the witch and hooted.</p><p>And while Amity didn’t speak ‘owl’, she could take a good guess at what he said.</p><p>
  <em>Use me.</em>
</p><p>“Are you sure?” she asked the palisman nervously, who gave a small nod in response. Amity gulped as she slowly lifted the staff and shakily pointed it at the battling human. And while she had a clear shot, she hesitated and looked at the object in her hands with a hint of fear in her eyes.</p><p>Sure, it could turn the tide of battle, but to which side?  She had never used a magic staff in combat before, so who knew what would happen? She has seen witches use staffs while they weren’t ready for it yet and it always ended in a catastrophe with immense property damage and witches getting hurt badly. For all she knew it would cause some chain reaction which could make everything come down on them, or worse, unleash some kind of death beam.</p><p>Her attention however was pulled away from her thoughts when she heard Gus shout in distress. He had barely managed to jump out of harms way from one of the student’s tricks, who just stood there, looking down on him like he was an easy prey.</p><p>Seeing the smug stature of the masked girl and her friend in trouble, made all the doubt vanish from her mind.</p><p>Tightening her grip on the wooden pole, she steadied her aim towards the battling human. And with some troubled precision drew a big, yellow, glowing circle in the air.</p><p>At first nothing happened and Amity feared that she had done something wrong, but then the circle released a blast of golden energy easily the height of one of her abominations with the intensity of a bomb. And it was quickly making its way towards the human.</p><p>Luz was busy vending of one of Gus’s illusions when she heard it being fired. She blasted it away, and immediately turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw the massive mass of energy heading straight for her. she shouted in shock as she tried to dive out of the way.</p><p>It was then that the blast blew itself up, hitting her with a strong gust of air mid-dive. This caused her to go sailing through the air for another ten meters. It didn’t get any better when she hit the ground, as she almost faceplanted into it.</p><p>Gus cheered as he walked up next to the Blight. “Yes! Take that!” He taunted.</p><p>“Don’t get too cocky Gus,” Willow commented as she slowly walked up to them, having healed herself enough to fight once again. It still hurt, but it was doable. “We don’t exactly know what they are fully capable of yet.” Amity nodded in agreement.</p><p>“We’ve got numbers and Owlbert!” the boy argued. “There’s no way she can beat us.” Gus encouraged. The two other witches, even though skeptical, slightly agreed with that.</p><p>“Oh, is that so?”</p><p>Crackling of electricity pulled their attention, only to see a lightning bolt shooting their way. The trio quickly dove out of the way, and looked in the direction where the blast had come from. There the student stood, slightly scuffed up but otherwise fine.</p><p>´<em>she also knows lightning magic?!’ </em>Amity called out in her head as she fired another fire spell, which clashed mid air with one of Luz’s. ‘<em>How many different elemental spells does this girl know?’’</em></p><p>“You know that it’s not polite to try and hit someone while their distracted. Right?” she called out towards the Blight, who glared at her.</p><p>“Oh shut up!”</p><p>In a matter of seconds, everything went from zero to a hundred really fast.</p><p>Amity prepared another spell with the staff, while Gus and Willow each summoned either a plant cluster or a bunch of floating orbs.</p><p>Luz meanwhile was throwing off all of the stops and grabbed a bunch of glyphs from her pouch. She smirked. “Let’s dance!”</p><p>She took of in a sprint towards the witches, who immediately started firing away at her. Amity unleashed a massive stream of purple fire as the others launched their own attacks.</p><p>The human responded with a gust of wind propelling her in the air, avoiding the blazing inferno. she then followed it up by activating a bunch of fire glyphs at once, causing fire to come raining down on her opponents.</p><p>Willow called up a bunch of roots at an attempt of shielding her, as Gus took cover behind one of the statues. Amity meanwhile had managed to summon an abomination arm from the ground and used it for protection.</p><p>When the volley finally stopped, she lowered the arm just to see the student use another gust of wind to safely land on the ground <em>‘how are they doing this?’ </em>she asked herself with a frown.<em> ‘Normally any other witch would start to show signs of slight magical fatigue, but they don’t even seem to drop a sweat!’</em></p><p>Her thoughts got interrupted when a bolt of lightning flew at her, and hit the arm. it blew up in a ton of sludge and flew everywhere. When she looked up, she saw Luz standing with her hands on her hips.</p><p>“Nice try,” The girl said as she wiped some abomination goop off her clothing. “But if you don’t want to get hit, then you have to come up with something better then that.”</p><p>Annoyed by the girl antics, the Blight summoned a fireball in her hand, ready to show her opponent that she wasn’t as good as she thought, when Willow ran up next to her. Amity looked at her questioningly until the plant witch leaned in and whispered in her ear. As Willow spoke, a smirk started to form on the girl’s face.</p><p>Luz frowned as she saw the two witchlings huddled up like that. ‘<em>something is going on over there, I know it.’</em> it was then, that the duo turned towards her and the cyclops gave a faint nod, confusing the brunette.</p><p>The next thing she knew, a small explosion went of next to her, followed by another and another. In a matter of seconds she was surrounded by a think smoke cloud. As the teen looked around, she saw nothing but a dense mist. She turned around in circles trying to determine her opponent’s next move.</p><p>What she wasn’t prepare for, was a hit in the stomach, knocking the air out of her and sending her backwards, sending her out of the smoke cloud. Luz grunted as she landed on her back. ‘<em>That’s definitely going to bruise.’ </em>As the human recovered from the blow, she looked up at the clearing smoke and saw an abomination standing in front of her. “Oh crud.”</p><p>As the abomination reared it’s arm back to strike again, she quickly jumped back on her feet and got out of the way, just in time for the big fist to hit exactly where her torso had been seconds ago. ‘<em>that was way too close for comfort</em>.’ She thought as she looked at the hole the punch had left. The abomination went in for another swing, but Luz blew it up with a fire glyph. She then looked up and saw the three witchlings running at her, each of them ready to take her on.</p><p>The onslaught started as she dodged another of Amity’s fireballs, but didn’t realize that with that she had stepped in line to be hit by Gus’s projectile instead. Taking the hit, she huffed and wildly launched a lightning bolt at them, which just missed them.</p><p>The girl then had to jump out of the way as and abomination fist rose up from the ground next to her, only to see Willow running at her with her right arm encased in vines. The plant witch had chosen to go for a little more of a direct approach and swung at her.</p><p>Luz however ducked under and grabbed it, which she immediately came to regret as the plant arm was covered in thorns. Willow smirked as she saw the student’s reaction and swung her arm down. The human jumped back, and narrowly avoided getting hit.</p><p>Willow however didn’t give up that easily and continued to take swings at her. punch after punch she threw, which the human managed to dodge and duck around. despite all of her misses, the witch kept trying, which started to really piss Luz off so she slammed a wind glyph on the ground, causing a small tornado to rise up, knocking her attacker back.</p><p>She didn’t get any rest as a blue orb flew by her head, missing it by an inch. She then heard an all to familiar crackling and active a barrier glyph just in time to stop a fireball from reaching her. as a response, she flung another lightning bolt, followed by a fireball of her own.</p><p>She then switched her attention towards the plant witch who had recovered and had called up a bunch of roots to charge at her, which she dodged and then set aflame, immediately followed by another lightning bolt.</p><p>Amity blocked it with one of her abominations and then send it out to attack to human head on. It however didn’t get very far as it was stopped by an ice pillar erupting from beneath it, piercing it.</p><p>Luz grinned as she saw that the being was stuck, but that changed to a frown as the monster started to melt and reform. She finished it of with a shot of lightning.</p><p>Gus took his turn as he charged at her with his orbs and a multitude of combat illusions.</p><p>Willow took this time, to run towards Amity. “What is it Willow?” the girl asked as the plant witch came to a stop in front of her.</p><p>“Amity, listen up. I need you to make another abomination.”</p><p>The witch in question cocked her head. “Sure. But why?”</p><p>“Just, trust me on this one. Okay?”</p><p>The Blight looked at her friend quizzically, but shrugged and did what she asked. The abomination groaned as it rose up from the ground. “Now what?”</p><p>“This.” And with a flick of her wrist, Willow summoned another cluster of vines, but this time she had different plans with them.</p><p>Then, the vines wrapped themselves around the abomination and flung it at the human.</p><p>Luz just finished off the illusions with a powerful electrical shockwave and knocked back their summoner, when she noticed the abomination flying through the air. Not excepting this, Luz took the blow full to the chest, getting engulfed in slimy goop. This goop stuck her to the ground, trapping her.</p><p>While she struggled to get out of it, the three witchlings quickly advanced on her, ready to finish the duel. What they didn’t expect however was the abomination goop to suddenly freeze over and blow apart as the human managed to free herself.</p><p>Then as a distraction, she made a bunch of ice pillars erupt from the ground. Then, she grabbed two fire glyphs and slammed them on the stone floor. This send out a heatwave which almost instantly caused the ice to melt and turn into fog, covering her in a blanket of thick, white mist.</p><p>The trio looked for any signs of the student, but couldn’t see a single trace.</p><p>It was then that a fireball flew right past Gus’s face, causing him to cry out in shock. Then the earth could be heard shattering and another ice pillar erupted from the ground right next to Willow, missing her by a hair.</p><p>Amity then heard the all to familiar crackling of lightning and twirled to staff around in the direction it was coming from, using it as a shield.</p><p>And not a second too late as the bolt crashed into it almost immediately after. She glared at where it had come from.</p><p>“Nice try, but your tricks won’t work on us!”</p><p>She then held the twirling staff above her head and Owlbert’s eyes glowed as a strong wind erupted around the group, blowing away the fog, revealing the human.</p><p>Now being able to see her opponent, Amity pointed the Owl Lady’s staff at them and unleashed a big magical blast.</p><p>The human lunged to the side and avoided it, then responded with some energy blasts of her own. Willow however predicted this and used a wall of plants to stop it. lowering it, she send them towards their opponent, who set them on fire the moment she could. She then had just enough time to duck under one of Gus’s orbs as it went for her head. Her answer was a stream of fire.</p><p>The boy’s eyes widened when he saw the inferno heading his way, until Amity suddenly stood in front of him. staff raised in front of her, she spun it in a circle, creating a yellow barrier against the blazing flames.</p><p>What she however was not prepared for was a bright flash of light which quickly followed, temporarily blinding them. Luz then unleashed a wave of wind, blowing up dust and small rocks. And once it reached the two of them, they had to brace themselves to not get blown back.</p><p>The human meanwhile was keeping the small storm going, keeping her focus on the duo.</p><p>Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Willow drawing a circle around her wrist and putting it to the ground. Luz expected another cluster of roots or thorny vines, but instead a big flower monster burst free, screeching as it rose up.</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened as she saw the monstrous plant in front of her. As the creature lunged forward, she called up an ice pillar from the ground, causing it to smack into the cold object. This however caused her to lose concentration over the gust that she had created and it calmed down.</p><p>As the flower shook it’s head to clear the daze, Luz went in for the kill.</p><p>Her plans however got put to a grinding halt when a purple energy blast struck her in the side. The human called out in pain as she collapsed on her knees and grab her sore side. This left her completely open for the plant beast to grab her.</p><p>Luz whimpered as the vines wrapped around her torso, including the spot where the blast had hit her, and worked her against the nearest statue.</p><p>Most of her outfit had some kind of armor woven into it so it was able to partly withstanding magic attacks and stopping it from doing any serious damage to her body. However, the sides were a different case, as armor would heavily influence the wearer’s mobility in a fight, more then it was worth. This left an opening for opportunists. And so as she struggled, she could already feel it starting to act up which was incredibly painful.</p><p>Tears formed in her eyes as the plant tightened its grip. It was then, that her vision started to turn hazy, and looked up with watery eyes towards the three witches and saw them just standing there, just watching her. It was then that they and the surroundings seemed to become hazy. The human pupils dilated as the scene in front of her got replaced with another one, one she was very familiar with. One which haunted her every sleeping moment.</p><p>The place seemed to slowly fill up with all too familiar metal coffins. The floor tiles changed into something less dungeon like and more, orderly. A weird mist started to creep forth from behind the statues and shadows started to fade into existence, mocking laughter following them. She shook her head and closed her eyes. trying to get rid of it. ‘<em>NO! NOT AGAIN!’ </em>But despite that, her mind seemed to have other ideas.</p><p>Her pleas of mercy seemed to fuel the laughter as it echoed in her ears like thunder. She struggled desperately against the plant’s grip, but could move an inch. She wanted to curl up in a ball as tears started to slowly gather together in her eyes, not allowing them to fall or be shown. ‘<em>NOT THIS!</em>’</p><p>It was then that a voice whispered in her ear causing her eyes to pop open. The dark cavern was gone completely now, and in front of her stood a shadowy figure with a toothy grin, looking down on her.</p><p>It spoke to her, and while it was complete gibberish, Luz knew exactly what it was saying as she had heard it many times before. The more it talked, the more the mockery became evident in its voice. At seeing her starting to squirm again, it snickered and Luz saw the smile of the figure widen, the teeth getting pointier.</p><p>The three witches meanwhile watched on as the human struggled against her bindings. They didn’t know what was going on with her as she was whimpering and muttering all the while, pleading. Amity however managed to catch a few words: “I’m sorry.” “please.” ”I won’t-” “Don’t hurt-“</p><p>She looked at her two friends, who looked at her with the same confusion.</p><p>The human meanwhile was still in her own personal hell, pleading for the figure to stop and leave her alone. But every time she asked for mercy or apologized, it only seemed to fuel it’s actions. And not only that, but she noticed that around her, her surrounding were starting to glitch out like she was in a video game. She continued to the constant gibberish of the shadow,</p><p>Until, it suddenly fell silent.</p><p>Luz wanted to breath in relieve, thinking it was over. But when she opened her eyes, the shadow leaned in, it’s smile still ever wide, it’s eyes looking into her soul. Once it’s face was right next to hers, it whispered something in her ear.</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened as she heard the ‘words’. And with that, a very familiar feeling rose up in her chest, something that she had suppressed <em>so</em> many times. Something that she knew was dangerous, that she shouldn’t follow it no matter what.</p><p>But now,</p><p>Now things were different.</p><p>This felt like the last drop which made the bucket flow over.</p><p>Luz could practically feel something in her mind snap and her pupils dilated as her world was engulfed in a red haze. Her eyes had a raging fire burning inside them.</p><p>She reached inside her pouch and pulled out four fire glyphs and a wind glyph , with a with a cry of rage, activated them at the same time accompanied</p><p>Amity, Willow and Gus had turned away from the human, looking how they could get out of there, when they heard the human scream behind them followed by an immense heat and the screeching of the plant monster.</p><p>When they turned around, they were just in time to catch sight of the monster getting completely obliterated by a blazing tornado. They covered their faces as embers from the flames flew everywhere. The raging inferno went on for a few more seconds until it finally started to calm down.</p><p>Once it was down, Luz could be seen, heaving deeply. With scorch marks on her outfit, the remnants of the fire behind her and her heavy breathing she looked totally nuts. The three witches gulped as they could feel the glare of the human on them.</p><p>Meanwhile with Luz her mind was still covered in the red haze. She didn’t know what was happening, neither did she care. All that was on her mind was anger and a need for payback. All she knew was that these people hurt her.</p><p>And they were going to pay for that.</p><p>She wouldn’t let it happen to her again. Not again!</p><p>She held her injured side as she faced the three witches, who all noticeably stepped back. Then with a grim and venom filled voice, she spoke.</p><p>“You just made a great mistake, and I’m going to make sure you’ll all pay for it!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey,<br/>so, I said that I would explain it in the end.<br/>Well, some stuff has been going on, both mentally and physically.<br/>since the last chapter I have gone through multiple writer's blocks and I could barely get a 100 words typed out. then there was the shortage of sleep, which wasn't fun. I rate it zero stars.<br/>then there was me being afraid of the quality being bad as I'm not great at big fighting scenes, so I kept changing and adding and deleting. it was a mess.</p><p>then there was that the kitchen was being rebuild, so that caused some problems here and there, but not too much.<br/>then some other stuff came up that I'm really focused on and I want to completely focus on. but I couldn't as you were all waiting.</p><p>But, the first part is out.<br/>yes, the FIRST part. it was going to be one chapter, but it became WAAAAAAY too long.<br/>how long you may ask?<br/>how does 18K sound?<br/>and that was before I started editing it to lower the amount, which I'm actually happy about as some scenes are WAY better now.</p><p>I'll try to bring out the second part this week, otherwise next week.<br/>after that, my attention will go fully to this other project that's going on.<br/>and once my part there is mostly done, I will probably continue writing, but on a story that has been assleep for half a year.</p><p> </p><p>anyway, to bring my rambling to an end,<br/>I hope you enjoyed and I'll hoepfully see you all next chapter.<br/>Gr Elementalwriter</p>
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